Passwords
- On a post it note on the computer desk or monitor
- On a piece of paper on the desk
- On a piece of paper under the keyboard
- In a notebook on their computer desk
Security for a New Year Part II – Security Questions
Posted on Apr 2, 2015 in Passwords by Michael | Target Audience: Everyone
security-questions passwords
This is Part II of the Security for a New Year series.
This topic was originally requested by a reader at my former employer, his question was simply, “what are your thoughts on security questions?” Well, considering that the topic for part one of this series was passwords, it seemed appropriate to make this part two. Security questions are a very sticky subject when it comes to security. Security questions are used to ‘verify’ your identity by using something typically more ‘complex’ than your password. There are generally two instances when you encounter security questions: the first, and most common, is to reset your password if it has been forgotten, and the second is in the form of additional identity verification such as for a banking login.
Continue Reading...Security for a New Year Part I – Strong Passwords – Part 3
Posted on Mar 9, 2015 in Passwords by Michael | Target Audience: Everyone
passwords
This is the third and final part of Strong Passwords for the Security for a New Year series.
Security for a New Year Part I: Strong Passwords – Part 1
Security for a New Year Part I: Strong Passwords – Part 2
In part 1 of strong passwords I covered the use of entropy and character space to create strong passwords and how the length of the password is the best defense against a brute force attack. In part 2 of strong passwords I covered methods for creating a high entropy password that is resilient to almost any dictionary attack. In both parts I mentioned that the second problem that comes with passwords is remembering them.
The memory problem leads to typically two very bad password practices. The first of which is writing the passwords down in a convenient place. While there are many arguments for both sides of this, but for security purposes (thus the reasoning for passwords in the first place), you should never write passwords down, at least not in any place that is easily accessible. The primary places where people keep their passwords are in one of the following locations:
Security for a New Year Part I – Strong Passwords – Part 2
Posted on Mar 2, 2015 in Passwords by Michael | Target Audience: Everyone
passwords
This is part 2 of Strong Passwords of the Security for a New Year series.
Security for a New Year Part I: Strong Passwords – Part 1
In part 1 of strong passwords, I discussed the use of character sets and character spaces and how they impact the overall strength of the password. I primarily discussed how the use of a longer password is significantly harder to brute force than that of a shorter one regardless of how many character sets are used. Typically longer passwords expand beyond the use of single words, and as a result they are referred to in many places as passphrases. Personally, since they serve the exact same purpose as far as authentication is concerned, I use the term password to refer to both single and multi-word passwords. The term passphrase; however, may help you expand your view on what a password can consist of. While most people may use a single word as their password, a password can also consist of several related or unrelated words, or even a complete sentence. This can be a great way to significantly increase the length of your password.
Continue Reading...Security for a New Year Part I – Strong Passwords – Part 1
Posted on Feb 23, 2015 in Passwords by Michael | Target Audience: Everyone
passwords
To relaunch Open Intel, I decided to refresh the Security for a New Year series. This will be the first part of a several post series on good security practices. Today’s topic: strong passwords.
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