Archive for March, 2011

How many of you use very basic passwords on your computer / email / bank account etc?

Did you know that 70% of people use the same password for email / chat / banking / social websites etc. The 5 most common passwords are Password1, 123456, God, Sex & Money. The next most common is typically a spouse, child, or pet name. Most passwords are standard dictionary “guessable” words.

These passwords are typically known as “Plain Text” basic authentication and can easily be cracked and often are cracked by hackers who siphon off your bank account. So we need to make passwords like this more secure.

The majority of us cannot remember our keys and wallets most days, so we have no chance in remembering passwords like this “$1h4ccF4h1f40#”, or do we? So how can we keep things simple, but memorable.

Say that your current password is your cat’s name “freddie”, why not start by changing a few characters for numbers i.e. “fr3dd13” where 3 has replaced e, and 1 has replaced i.

Then add a capital letter like “Fr3dd13”. So now this password is a little more secure, but still only 7 characters long. To achieve stronger authentication, you really need 8 characters or more.

In order to make it more secure, add two symbols to your password i.e. “Fr3dd13#$”

Hackers using sophisticated password cracking software would still be able to decipher this password, but the person looking over your shoulder in the office probably wouldn’t.

Try this technique today! Or, if you want to be more cryptic, create a password using a story. i.e.

“I have a cat called freddie and he is fluffy and orange” translate this to a password using the first letter of each word (using capitals for names) and replacing vowels for numbers:

4=a, 3=e, 1=i, 0=o, 9=u

Your new cryptic password is “$1h4ccF4h1f40#” including a dollar symbol at the start and a hash symbol on the end giving you a 14 character strong authentication password. It sure beats “freddie”

Can you remember this new password now?

If you would like to know more please email sales@icewyche.co.uk or complete our contact form on the website.

iCEWYCHE … Making I.T. Happen

The British Software Alliance are offering upto £10,000 reward for anyone who reports a company that is committing software theft?

Are you concerned? If you would like to know more, please fill in our contact form and ask to speak to one of our specialist sales team about how an I.T. Audit can help you.

iCEWYCHE … Making I.T. Happen

SEE THIS EXTRACT FROM www.bsa.org

Your boss wouldn’t ask you to steal or commit fraud, would they? So why do they ask you to use unlicensed software?

Not only could your company face serious legal and financial penalties if you were caught, but unlicensed software can also leave your network dangerously exposed to attacks from viruses and data loss.

So, if you know of a company that is using unlicensed software, please let us know now. You could receive a reward of up to £10,000.

It’s all totally confidential

We represent many of the leading software manufacturers and act on their behalf to protect their intellectual property rights and reduce the installation of unlicensed software.

If you report a company to us, we will treat all the information you provide in complete confidence. Our legal representatives operate within national and international data protection and privacy laws.

Earn up to £10,000

And if your report leads to a successful judgement or settlement, you could be rewarded with 10% of any damages, up to a maximum of £10,000.