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PCMag UK Software & Services Security Password Managers


'12345' IS REALLY BAD: YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO PASSWORD SECURITY


IF YOU'RE STILL USING "QWERTY" OR "STARWARS" AS A PASSWORD, YOU SHOULD STOP
IMMEDIATELY. WE TELL YOU WHAT MAKES A BAD PASSWORD, WHY YOU SHOULD CARE, AND HOW
TO MAKE A GOOD ONE.

By Neil J. Rubenking 3 May 2022, 9:10 p.m.
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 * 0shares





The 47 Ronin of Japanese history identified each other during a night attack
with the password “yama” (mountain) and the countersign “kawa” (river). Cool
right? Modern password protection isn't nearly as interesting, but it's just as
important.

The only safe way to store proper passwords is in a password manager. So why
aren’t you using one? A few years ago, in a PCMag survey on passwords, only 24%
of you reported using a password manager. The other 76% must be using a highly
crackable password like baseball or 12345678, or memorizing one complex password
and using it everywhere. Password security is no small matter. Given the
enormous scale of the risk, you need to do everything you can to keep your
passwords safe.





Even if you're using the best password manager, it doesn't guarantee the safety
of your accounts—not if you use the password manager to store the same old,
tired passwords. You have to switch out your old and weak passwords for new and
stronger ones.

That survey mentioned above revealed that 35% of PCMag readers never change
their passwords unless forced to do so by a breach. In general, that's not such
a bad thing. The National Institute of Standards and Technology no longer
recommends changing passwords every 90 days. NIST now recommends using long
phrases like "Correct-Horse-Battery-Staple" and changing them only when
necessary. But if you're using terrible passwords, "when necessary" means right
now.

Just what makes a bad password? Let's look at some of the attributes of terrible
passwords, then give you some pointers on how to make them the right way.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


STAY OUT OF THE DICTIONARY

Every few months a news outlet posts a list of the worst passwords. We see a lot
of easy-to-type options, like 123456 and and qwerty. Easy for you? Sure. But
also easy for hackers to crack. Other common (and poor) passwords consist of
simple dictionary words. We've seen baseball, monkey, and starwars in the list
of worst passwords. These, too, are easy to crack.



Some secure websites lock down after a set number of wrong password attempts,
but many don't. For those with no bad-guess lockout, hackers can cross a list of
email addresses with a list of popular passwords and set up an automated process
to keep trying combinations until they get in.

A properly secured website doesn't store your password anywhere. Instead, it
runs the password through a hashing algorithm, a kind of one-way encryption. The
same input always produces the same output, but there's no way to get back to
the original password from the resulting hash. If the password you type hashes
to the same value that's stored, you get access. Even if hackers capture the
site's user data, they don't get passwords, just hashes.

But smart hackers can crack weak passwords even when they're hashed if they know
what hashing function the site used. They start by running a huge dictionary of
common passwords through the hashing function. Then they look for the resulting
hashes in the captured data. Each match is a cracked password. Sites with the
very best security enhance the hash function with a technique called salting,
which makes this kind of table-based cracking impossible, but why take the risk?
Just stay out of the dictionary.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


THINK DIFFERENTLY

A friend once told me her perfect password: 1qaz2wsx3edc4rfv. She could "type"
it by just sliding a finger down four slanted columns of the keyboard. It was so
perfect, she used it everywhere. And that was a big mistake.

Hardly a week goes by without news of a breach at some company or website,
exposing thousands or millions of usernames and passwords. Smart victims change
their passwords immediately. Those who ignore the problem may find themselves
locked out of their own accounts after the hackers reset the password.

Those hackers know that all too many people recycle their passwords. Once they
find a working username and password pair, they try the same credentials on
other sites. You may not be so worried about losing access to your Club Penguin
Rewritten account, but if you used the same login on your bank's website, you've
got big trouble.

It gets worse. If someone else gets control of your email account, they can
first lock you out by changing the password. Then they can break into your other
accounts by having a password reset link emailed to that account. Worried yet?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


DON'T GET PERSONAL

Using personal information as the basis for your passwords is awfully tempting,
but it's a bad idea. Whether your dog’s name is Rover or Khaleesi, that name
probably appears in the dictionaries hackers use for brute-force attacks. Other
possibilities such as the initials and birthdate of a family member probably
won't fall to a brute-force attack, but if someone wants to hack your account
specifically, that personal data can fuel a trial-and-error guessing attack.

Don't think for a minute that your personal details are private. There are
dozens of sites people can use to find details about anybody: address,
birthdate, marital status, and more. Your social media posts can be another
source of personal info, especially if you haven't properly secured your
accounts. A determined hacker (or a nosy neighbor) can probably guess any
password that you build based on your own data.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CLOSE THE BACK DOOR

If you're not using a password manager, you've surely experienced forgetting the
password for a site. It's all too common, which is why virtually every login
page includes a "Forgot your password?" link. Some sites send a reset link to
your email address, while others let you reset the password after answering your
security questions. And that opens a back door to anyone wanting to hack your
account.

Most sites offer abysmal options for security questions. What is your mother's
maiden name? Where did you go to high school? What was your first job? As noted,
your personal life is an open book to anyone with internet searching skills.
When possible, ignore the preset questions. Create your own question, with a
unique answer that you'll always remember but that nobody else could guess.

It's harder when the site doesn't let you define your own questions. In that
case, your best bet is to use a memorable answer that's a total lie. My mother's
maiden name is Fauci. I went to school at More Science High School. For my first
job, I was a linotype operator. There is an element of risk, since you might
forget which lie you chose. I would suggest storing these oddball answers as
secure notes in your password manager—but if you were using a password manager
you wouldn’t have this problem in the first place.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


WHAT TO DO NOW THAT YOU CARE

I hope I've convinced you that using common passwords is a rotten idea, as is
building passwords from personal information. And even the best strong, random
password becomes a liability if you use it all over the place. If you're ready
to spring into action, here are some starting points:

 * Use a password manager.
 * Switch to a better password manager.
 * Remember an extremely secure master password for your password manager.
 * Take advantage of a random password generator to upgrade your old, bad
   passwords.
 * You could even create your own random password generator in Excel.
 * Enable multi-factor authentication wherever available.

If a secure site doesn't take care of security, you could still lose that site's
credentials to a data breach, but by making all your passwords long, strong, and
unique, you've done everything you can to protect your online accounts.



And hey! Now that you're on a roll, security-wise, consider adding a Virtual
Private Network, or VPN to your toolkit. Using strong passwords for secure sites
means others can't break into your accounts; adding a VPN means there's no
chance anyone can intercept your connection to those secure sites.



MORE INSIDE PCMAG.COM

 * Got a Password Manager? Good, But You’re Using It Wrong
 * How to Share Passwords Safely
 * How to Use a Random Password Generator
 * 3 Simple Tricks for Remembering Strong Passwords
 * The Best Free Password Managers for 2022


ABOUT NEIL J. RUBENKING

Neil J. Rubenking is PCMag’s Lead Analyst for Security. As such he evaluates and
reports on security solutions such as firewalls, antivirus tools, ransomware
protection, and full security suites. Starting with PCMag in 1986, he has also
served as Contributing Editor and Technical Editor.


MORE FROM NEIL J. RUBENKING

 * 10 Things Every Parent With a Connected Kid Needs to Know
 * Data443 Ransomware Recovery Manager
 * '12345' Is Really Bad: Your Ultimate Guide to Password Security
 * Got a Password Manager? Good, But You’re Using It Wrong
 * How to Use a Random Password Generator

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