Invalid Password
Thursday, August 14, 2008
With all the personal information entrusted to websites, how sure can we be that it's all secure? Well as it turns out, to the average hacker a password is nothing but a few minutes deterrent. Kim Cameron, Architect of Identity at Microsoft and John Clippinger, Senior Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, talk about the issue.
Comments [8]
I suggest to my students that they need only three passwords. One for your e-mail, one for the bank and one for everything else. None should contain public information (family names and birth dates) and should be 8 characters long with a combination of letters and numbers with one letter capitalized. This definitely simplifies things. (Author "Is This Thing On?" A Computer Handbook for Late Bloomers, Technophobes, and the Kicking & Screaming)
A lot of folks do use real info, name, initials, or even their full names in their email accounts. How about having to use the last four digits of your social for sites or VRU systems or your driver's license id#, it's unfortunate there isn't anyway around this.
It would have been a bit more interesting if there was a slightly different view offered but some of these segments have such a short lifespan if there is any dissent then the segment goes nowhere....at least this wasn't a journaltisement.
Why have 2 guests to discuss a topic if all they're going to do is agree with each other on every single point?
thanks.
Don't the guests assume that everyone is dumb enough to respond to an email that requires you to enter your password so it can be compromised? I mean, come on!
who on earth doesn't use fake info? why would you possibly give any real info? bad enough your ip addy is logged, that's tmi.
Isn't it incredibly dangerous to let out your mother's maiden name since that is used for banking info and other core ID issues?
I never give out real information if I can avoid it, even birthdays and locations, and would prefer to mask my IP address if possible.
I would like to hear your guests comments on expanding the use of public private key pairs as an alternative to passwords.
These can be additionally password protected, but the password never leaves your computer.
They can also be set up on USB smart cards, and usable on multiple computers.
this new website is giving me a headache!
i'll get use to it
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.