The Problem with Passwords

Passwords! When it comes to accessing secure services and applications on the internet we are constantly being asked to create or enter a password.

Despite what internet security experts tell us it is unlikely that many people use a unique username or password for every service they access online. It would be near impossible for an average internet user to recall a unique username and password for every service they used. An average internet user would access online: email, online banking accounts, Amazon, Ebay, Facebook, Twitter not to mention any passwords that they may need to remember in the work environment. It's not just online where the problems arise, we are constantly asked to provide passwords for accessing our computers, mobile devices, wireless networks and the list goes on.

For many people the same password is used for everything they access. In theory using the same password is fine, but obviously trouble arrives when your password is cracked and all your accounts and services are accessible.

Worse than using the same password for everything is using a common or obvious sequence of letters, for example '123456' or 'PASSWORD', both of the above examples are from a recently published list from Imperva, a data security firm who studied thousands of anonymous passwords that were leaked on the internet early in 2010.

Top Ten Commonly Used Passwords:

1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123

Secure identification in the future is likely to rely on biometric information such as digital fingerprints, retina scans etc, but this is not going to happen any time in the next few years. For the time being a password is still the most obvious and ubiquitous way of accessing secure accounts and if remembering all those passwords is beginning to prove hard work, perhaps have two or three, spreading the risk a little and avoiding the chance of compromising all your accounts.

To learn more about resolving IT Security issues before they become problems, visit Powergroup's security pages or contact Powergroup on: 01908 605188

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Connecting business since 1995, Powergroup's roots and pedigree are based in Powernet, one of the longest established and most respected independent Internet solution and service providers in the UK.

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For more information on how Powergroup can help you increase productivity and reduce your communication costs, please contact us. Call: 01908 605188 or email: info@powergroup.co.uk

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