Monday, May 30, 2011

Elmo says "Use a Strong Password" (PBS Hacked)

 So PBS.org has been hacked and reports are still coming out about this incident. It seems a episode of Frontline about Wikileaks angered the hackers which is what caused the incident. This just goes to show that any place could be a target on hack attacks. However a point I'd like to come comes from a quote from The Naked Security blog:

 While PBS is the victim here, the passwords disclosed for most affiliates are embarrassingly predictable. 

 Now it is a big deal that PBS was hacked, however I think stronger passwords should have been required/urged. PBS is a pretty large network and I think something should have been in place. I am pretty sure Elmo would have said "to use a strong password online" and The count would have said "using the number of the day along with the letter of the day is not a good idea". Now I know the PBS passwords were probably not like that but since Sesame Street is one of PBS most well known programs I thought I would throw in some references to them. 


 Now for some tips on making a strong password:
 
  1.  Use a combo of letters in numbers. Uppercase and lower case letters. A good mix of numbers
  2.  Don't be predictable. Making your Password be Password or going somethingIlike123 may be to predictable.
  3.  Don't be personal. Using your dog's name, your cat's name, or anything person would make it easy for hackers to predict your password. Try to stay away from personal things.

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