Adobe Breach Proves People Really Need To Create Better Passwords
What’s the Latest Development?
As Adobe recovers from a security breach last month that compromised the data of 38 million active users (as of Oct. 30), researcher Jeremi Gosney discovered an interesting and disturbing fact while combing through that data: The most commonly used password, employed by 1.9 million users, was “123456,” followed by, respectively, “123456789,” “password,” “adobe123,” and “12345678.” Gosney warns that while his analysis doesn’t take into account any encryption procedures Adobe might have used to safeguard this information, he was still able to come up with a list of passwords he feels is “fairly accurate.”
What’s the Big Idea?
The leaked data has been a boon to security experts such as Gosney, as it allows them to examine password-creating habits. It also demonstrates that despite years of warnings from many different sources, many people still don’t understand the need for a strong password. In addition, “[m]any people re-use the same password for different services potentially giving attackers a way into other networks.” Ideally, Adobe’s loss could be computer security’s gain, as they look to refine their own methods of testing login systems.
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