Re: Good or bad idea

From	Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net>
Newsgroups	comp.sys.mac.system
Subject	Re: Good or bad idea
Date	2015-06-15 20:06 -0700
Organization	Chaotic Creations Unlimited
Message-ID	<mlo3pi$cfc$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References	(3 earlier) <2015061419063665838-xxx@yyyzzz> <Ppidnd0SPoarTePInZ2dnUU7-Y2dnZ2d@earthlink.com> <160620150915215450%YourName@YourISP.com> <vZWdnU4GIMfA_uLInZ2dnUU7-fGdnZ2d@earthlink.com> <1g0vnale847cmnna5jdtupuk9eah32qjt5@4ax.com>

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In article <1g0vnale847cmnna5jdtupuk9eah32qjt5@4ax.com>,
 John <Man@the.keyboard> wrote:

> On Mon, 15 Jun 2015 19:44:29 -0400, Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> 
> >In article <160620150915215450%YourName@YourISP.com>,
> > Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Even easier ... just use "PASSWORD" and "1234" for everything.   ;-)
> >
> >Had a friend who used Mom's maiden name as his password. The phrase, not 
> >the old lady's moniker..
> 
>  Where I live that would actually be quite secure. "Mom" is not a real
> word in our language so a dictionary attack could skip it. 
>  Your Name's suggestions are possibly a little less secure. I'm sure
> those are two of the first things any decent spy would ... or maybe
> not. Would a spy think *anyone* could be that stupid?
>  I know millions *are* and do use those very passwords but if you are
> trying to hack a system would you go for those first? Or would you
> assume the owner isn't a complete cretin? 
>  Life as a hacker must be difficult, with all those decisions to make
> ... :)
>                 J. 

I've read, in several places over the years, and in both fiction and 
non-fiction material, that the four most commonly used passwords on the 
planet, in order, are "password", "Password", "password1", and 
"Password1". Depending on who's saying it, it's claimed that between 30 
and 60 percent of all computer accounts can be popped using one of them.

Precisely how the people who've written that factoid arrived at that 
conclusion, I'm not sure (since, after all, "What's your password?" is 
*SUPPOSED* to be one of those questions that has only one correct 
answer: "I ain't tellin'!") but since it's been stated with some 
authority in so many different texts I've encountered, I tend to think 
it may well be true. (No comment on how many times it's gotten me into 
places where I wasn't really supposed to get into... I think the statute 
of limitations has expired for all of them, but one never knows for 
certain... :) )

As a side-note, I do have to mention one fellow I used to know - his 
password - passphrase, actually - was "<variable> is the only word in my 
passphrase", where "<variable>" was most often replaced with the name of 
the system he used it to log in on - So for his student account at the 
local college (which used a Pr1me-750 minicomputer) it was "Pr1me-750 is 
the only word in my passphrase", when he wanted to log into his ISP, it 
was "<ISP-name> is the only word in my passphrase", and similar. His 
theory was that since it was relatively long, regardless of what the 
"<variable>" was, it was probably pretty secure, and he only had to 
actually remember where he was trying to log in to get it right. He also 
seemed to think it was a clever way to screw with anyone who might want 
to try "rubber hose cryptanalysis" on him, since he'd be able to answer 
truthfully, but chances were high that an interrogator would "miss" it 
because he'd only be trying only the "<variable>" part. (I thought that 
unlikely, but... <shrug>)

-- 
Security provided by Mssrs Smith and/or Wesson. Brought to you by the letter Q

Thread

Good or bad idea Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-14 11:00 -0400
  Re: Good or bad idea JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2015-06-14 11:45 -0400
    Re: Good or bad idea Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-06-14 12:48 -0400
      Re: Good or bad idea JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2015-06-14 21:13 -0400
        Re: Good or bad idea Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-06-14 21:41 -0400
    Re: Good or bad idea Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-06-14 17:21 -0400
      Re: Good or bad idea Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-06-15 13:13 +1200
        Re: Good or bad idea Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-06-15 08:19 -0400
      Re: Good or bad idea JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2015-06-14 22:20 -0400
        Re: Good or bad idea Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-06-15 08:21 -0400
  Re: Good or bad idea Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-06-14 11:47 -0400
    Re: Good or bad idea Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-14 12:09 -0400
      Re: Good or bad idea billy@MIX.COM - 2015-06-14 18:19 +0000
        Re: Good or bad idea Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-14 17:06 -0400
          Re: Good or bad idea Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2015-06-14 21:32 +0000
            Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-15 15:21 +0100
              Re: Good or bad idea Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2015-06-15 15:32 +0000
                Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-16 02:18 +0100
                Re: Good or bad idea Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2015-06-16 15:26 +0000
              Re: Good or bad idea Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-06-15 21:41 -0400
                Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-16 03:48 +0100
                Re: Good or bad idea Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2015-06-16 15:28 +0000
          Re: Good or bad idea Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-06-15 13:11 +1200
            Re: Good or bad idea nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2015-06-14 23:05 -0400
            Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-15 15:23 +0100
        Re: Good or bad idea Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> - 2015-06-14 15:19 -0700
          Re: Good or bad idea Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-06-15 13:19 +1200
      Re: Good or bad idea Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-06-14 17:26 -0400
        Re: Good or bad idea Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-15 09:12 -0400
      Re: Good or bad idea gtr <xxx@yyy.zzz> - 2015-06-14 19:06 -0700
        Re: Good or bad idea Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-15 09:16 -0400
          Re: Good or bad idea Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-06-16 09:15 +1200
            Re: Good or bad idea Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-15 19:44 -0400
              Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-16 03:01 +0100
                Re: Good or bad idea Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> - 2015-06-15 20:06 -0700
                Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-16 05:19 +0100
                Re: Good or bad idea Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-06-16 11:00 -0400
                Re: Good or bad idea Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-06-16 12:51 -0400
                Re: Good or bad idea Alan Browne <alan.browne@freelunchvideotron.ca> - 2015-06-16 20:50 -0400
  Re: Good or bad idea Siri Cruz <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-14 08:47 -0700
    Re: Good or bad idea Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-06-15 09:10 +1200
  Re: Good or bad idea Davoud <star@sky.net> - 2015-06-14 12:06 -0400
    Re: Good or bad idea Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-14 12:12 -0400
      Re: Good or bad idea Davoud <star@sky.net> - 2015-06-14 21:50 -0400
      Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-15 15:37 +0100
      Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-15 15:47 +0100
  Re: Good or bad idea "W" <persistentone@spamarrest.com> - 2015-06-14 12:00 -0700
    Re: Good or bad idea Kurt Ullman <kurtullman@yahoo.com> - 2015-06-14 17:21 -0400
      Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-15 16:10 +0100
        Re: Good or bad idea Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-06-15 15:14 +0000
          Re: Good or bad idea Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2015-06-15 18:57 +0100
            Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-16 02:54 +0100
              Re: Good or bad idea JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2015-06-15 23:56 -0400
                Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-16 06:02 +0100
                Re: Good or bad idea JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2015-06-16 21:10 -0400
                Re: Good or bad idea Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> - 2015-06-16 18:18 -0700
                Re: Good or bad idea Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-06-17 13:38 +1200
                Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-18 04:12 +0100
                Re: Good or bad idea Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-06-18 11:56 +0000
                Re: Good or bad idea Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-06-17 06:52 -0400
                Re: Good or bad idea Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-06-17 12:12 +0000
                Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-18 04:03 +0100
                Re: Good or bad idea Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-06-18 11:56 +0000
                Re: Good or bad idea Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-06-18 08:20 -0400
              Re: Good or bad idea Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net> - 2015-06-16 10:20 +0100
                Re: Good or bad idea Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-06-16 21:06 +0000
                Re: Good or bad idea Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-06-17 13:12 +1200
                Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-16 23:17 +0100
          Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-16 02:25 +0100
    Re: Good or bad idea John <Man@the.keyboard> - 2015-06-15 15:58 +0100
  Re: Good or bad idea Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-06-15 09:15 +1200
  Re: Good or bad idea Aldo Raine <apache@scalpem.net> - 2015-06-15 08:54 -0400

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