Almighty Colin
05-03-2004, 08:16 AM
(Netscape article)
The Most Popular Passwords Are...
...the names of family members, sports teams, and pets. That's the word from the organizers of the Infosecurity Europe conference who conducted a sneaky, impromptu man-on-the-street survey at the Liverpool Street Station in England, reports Security Pipeline. It was sneaky because the pollsters randomly offered people a chocolate candy bar if they would give up their password. Fully 71 percent did just that. And once they told their password, they revealed lots of other information as well.
Passwords may be random and secret, but when you choose a password, you could be putting your company at risk. Click to find out how.
To whom would you reveal your password?
--When first asked if they would reveal their password, 37 percent did it right away.
--For those who wouldn't tell immediately, the pollsters used social engineering tactics, suggesting their password was a child's name or a pet's name. Once that discussion started, another 34 percent told their password and many even explained the origins.
--53 percent said they would not give their password to a telephone caller claiming to be calling from their company's IT department. (Good!)
--Four out of 10 said they knew their colleagues' passwords.
--55 percent said they'd give their password to their boss.
You have more to worry about than dirty, rotten scoundrels trying to steal your password. You won't believe what is on your office desk: more bacteria and germs than are typically found on the office toilet. Find out the only way to clean up.
How many passwords do you have?
--Two thirds of workers use the same password for work and personal use, such as banking and online access.
--Workers used an average of four passwords, although one systems administrator used 40 passwords, which he stored on a program he wrote himself to keep them secure.
How often do you change your password?
--51 percent of passwords were changed on a monthly basis, 3 percent changed passwords weekly, 2 percent daily, 10 percent quarterly, 13 percent rarely, and 20 percent never.
--Workers who regularly had to change their passwords said they kept them on piece of paper in their drawers, or stored on Word documents so they wouldn't forget them.
The most common password of all? ADMIN
Last year, when this same survey was conducted, the most common password was PASSWORD. The change likely occurred because a lot of new equipment, including some PDAs and all Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear broadband and Wi-Fi routers are now shipped with a default password of ADMIN.
The Most Popular Passwords Are...
...the names of family members, sports teams, and pets. That's the word from the organizers of the Infosecurity Europe conference who conducted a sneaky, impromptu man-on-the-street survey at the Liverpool Street Station in England, reports Security Pipeline. It was sneaky because the pollsters randomly offered people a chocolate candy bar if they would give up their password. Fully 71 percent did just that. And once they told their password, they revealed lots of other information as well.
Passwords may be random and secret, but when you choose a password, you could be putting your company at risk. Click to find out how.
To whom would you reveal your password?
--When first asked if they would reveal their password, 37 percent did it right away.
--For those who wouldn't tell immediately, the pollsters used social engineering tactics, suggesting their password was a child's name or a pet's name. Once that discussion started, another 34 percent told their password and many even explained the origins.
--53 percent said they would not give their password to a telephone caller claiming to be calling from their company's IT department. (Good!)
--Four out of 10 said they knew their colleagues' passwords.
--55 percent said they'd give their password to their boss.
You have more to worry about than dirty, rotten scoundrels trying to steal your password. You won't believe what is on your office desk: more bacteria and germs than are typically found on the office toilet. Find out the only way to clean up.
How many passwords do you have?
--Two thirds of workers use the same password for work and personal use, such as banking and online access.
--Workers used an average of four passwords, although one systems administrator used 40 passwords, which he stored on a program he wrote himself to keep them secure.
How often do you change your password?
--51 percent of passwords were changed on a monthly basis, 3 percent changed passwords weekly, 2 percent daily, 10 percent quarterly, 13 percent rarely, and 20 percent never.
--Workers who regularly had to change their passwords said they kept them on piece of paper in their drawers, or stored on Word documents so they wouldn't forget them.
The most common password of all? ADMIN
Last year, when this same survey was conducted, the most common password was PASSWORD. The change likely occurred because a lot of new equipment, including some PDAs and all Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear broadband and Wi-Fi routers are now shipped with a default password of ADMIN.