A Website Dedicated to Computer Professionals...and some not so Professional

P for passwords  

Internet and computer security is a funny thing, the more security protocols put in place to protect a system the more gears there are to muck of the engine. And none are successful if you have the username and password to get in. There are lots of way for a prospective hacker to discover the username and password of a user. Usernames are easy to find, most are e-mail names so all that remains is a password. Finding the password may be a little more difficult, but is still obtainable because people are creatures of habit and use the same code for everything. And the code is almost always somebody’s name that is close to him or her. Still, that require more work that most hacker want to do, and most users don’t have enough access to get them into anything of any real value. So what the next best thing? The network Admins username and password, and how easy is that—real easy baby.  

I don’t like to stereotype myself with any group or type, but computer people are all the bloody same. They watch the same TV shows, read all the same books, and use the same passwords. That’s right; use the same passwords. (as far as the goes end-users use the same passwords too.) So, in most cases it’s easy to just guess at from a list of command geek passwords. 

The most common Password Pattern: Pet's name, User's own name or initials, Spouse's name Children's, names, Favorite sport, team, hobby, or recording artist. Birthdays (Women also use their wedding date or children's birthdays. Men never seem to use these.)

The four most common User Passwords are Love, God, Secret and Sex.   

Common Passwords for a Network Administrator	Common Passwords for an Enduser
Passwords used in a Cracker Dictionary	Common Bios Passwords
Windows Logon Passwords