Recently there was a massive password breach at the social media provider RockYou. 32 million passwords were exposed. Of course the most alarming part of this is that when the passwords were analyzed the following were the top ten most frequent passwords out a dataset of 32 million passwords (really, just can’t emphasize that size enough):
123456
12345
123456789
Password
iloveyou
princess
rockyou
1234567
12345678
abc123
These passwords illustrate one of the fundamental security problems faced today. While there are exploits in code to be found, sometimes the best way to break in to a place is to just waltz in through the front door. Users often complain that remembering passwords is too difficult, and like to keep things as simple as possible. It’s another example of people not taking their data seriously. You don’t fully appreciate what your data is worth until someone you don’t want to have access to it manages to get a hold of it.
People need to get in to the habit of practicing better password security. Even if you have a difficult password with letters, numbers, and special characters writing it down on a Post-It note next to your computer is the same as buying a fancy high tech lock for your front door but then leaving the key in it. There are great password managers out there that encrypt your passwords with a single password.
But seriously, princess?
Just a Man with a Mash Paddle 