Gates: Forget your passwords

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Really...?

Try this at your company then (or at home):

Try username = administrator OR root OR user
Password = abc123 OR abc321 OR qwerty OR user123 OR user321

I bet there will be a few systems that you can get into just by trying these 15 combinations. With faster computers, and faster network connections, a hacker can eventually try out millions of combinations in less time than it took just a couple of years ago. Most usernames are less than 16 characters, and most passwords are less than 10 characters. Not only that, but most people use the SAME usernames and passwords everywhere that they can.
The idea of a biometric card or some kind of keycard is nothing new. Essentially it allows the creation of passwords that would be several hundred or thousand bytes long, as opposed to the 10-16 that we currently use. Are they going to be 100% effective? Of course not. But they sure will effectively restrict the number of "zombies" out there under constant hacker control. Any ideas that anyone comes up with are fine with me. Funny about the anti-MS posts... I haven't heard anything about any Linux ideas in this regard (or any other OS for that matter). Does anyone actually care about this problem ... I mean other than MS??
Makes no sense to me to flame the one company that gives a hoot about protecting some privacy. Sure haven't heard ANYTHING about the same from linux or anyone else (and that does include Apple).

Posted by: rock06r   Posted on: 11/16/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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