Category Archives: Password Security
← Older postsYahoo Encourages Users to Change Passwords
Yahoo released a statement warning users that over 500 million account credentials – including passwords, telephone numbers, and security questions and answers – were compromised during a data breach dating back to 2014. Yahoo is notifying potentially affected users and is … Continue reading
Posted in Password Security, Security Breach | Tagged security advisory, yahoo
Dropbox Encourages Users to Change Passwords
Dropbox released a statement warning users that 68 million account credentials were compromised during a data breach dating back to 2012. Dropbox has emailed all users believed to be affected by the breach and initiated a password reset for those … Continue reading
Posted in Password Security, Security Breach | Tagged dropbox, security advisory
Clearing Up Misconceptions About What Makes a Strong Password
Many people think they are creating strong passwords, when in reality they are making it relatively easy for hackers to infiltrate their accounts. Ensure that your password is as secure as possible by avoiding these common misconceptions: “Replacing letters or … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Password Security | Tagged password security
Stolen Tumblr, MySpace, and Fling Passwords Posted Online
The same hacker who posted 120 million LinkedIn passwords online last week is now allegedly selling user records for millions of Tumblr, MySpace, and Fling accounts: Social networking site MySpace was hacked in 2013; 360 million passwords have been compromised. Social networking site Tumblr was hacked … Continue reading
Posted in Password Security, Privacy, Security Breach, Social Networking, Uncategorized | Tagged fling, linkedin, myspace, password security, security breach, social networking, tumblr
May 5 is World Password Day
The first Thursday of every May is World Password Day, when users are encouraged to brush up on their password security practices. Read on for some useful password tips.
Posted in Password Security |
Choosing Secure Passwords through Poetry
Users and security researchers have long struggled with the problem of coming up with passwords that are both easy to remember and difficult to crack. Two computational linguists from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering have come up with a unique … Continue reading
Posted in Password Security, Recommended Reading | Tagged password security, passwords, user education
Dropbox Hack
Actions: Do not reuse passwords across different sites and services; if you do, change them to passwords unique to each site and service. What happened? A hacker posted a plain-text file to Pastebin with a provocative headline claiming that Dropbox … Continue reading
Posted in Password Security, Security Breach | Tagged compromised account, dropbox
Server certificates and Heartbleed
Cloudflare, a large web-hosting company, has a very detailed article on how server certificates are not (in the real world) extractable using the Heartbleed bug: http://blog.cloudflare.com/answering-the-critical-question-can-you-get-private-ssl-keys-using-heartbleed They set up a test server and challenged anybody to obtain the private key. … Continue reading
Posted in Password Security, Recommended Reading, Security Updates | Tagged Heartbleed
Passwords You Need to Change due to the Heartbleed Bug
Many websites and online services, including Facebook, Instagram, Google, and Yahoo, were affected by the recently announced Heartbleed vulnerability. The site linked below has collected responses from social media, email, financial, and other companies regarding steps they have taken to … Continue reading
Posted in Facebook, Password Security, Security Updates, Social Networking | Tagged Heartbleed
OpenSSL Vulnerability (Heartbleed Bug)
Security researchers have discovered a vulnerability, named the Heartbleed bug, in the OpenSSL encryption library that could allow attackers to access secure information stored in a server’s system memory, including usernames, passwords, and private encryption keys. OpenSSL is used by … Continue reading
Posted in Password Security, Phishing, Security Breach | Tagged Heartbleed