Passwords News

Amazon and Wikipedia still giving poor password advice By Tim Sandle Plymouth - A decade of research shows that little improvement has been made in the guidance given by leading websites in relation to security and for the protection of privacy data.

Apple confirms 'really bad' bug that lets anyone access your Mac By James Walker Apple's confirmed that it's rushing to prepare a fix for a critical issue found in its latest macOS High Sierra update. A bug in the operating system's authentication code allows anyone to log in as an administrator by typing a blank password.

OneLogin password manager breached, user data decrypted By James Walker Popular password management service OneLogin has reported a serious breach of its security systems which may have allowed attackers to access user data. The company told its customers that the perpetrators could have decrypted stored passwords.

Researchers create AI to help you choose stronger passwords By James Walker Cybersecurity researchers have created a new password strength meter that provides actionable tips informing you how to create safer passwords. Backed by artificial intelligence and new algorithms, the team wants to help people make better choices.

'123456' leads the worst passwords of 2016 By James Walker A list of the worst passwords of 2016 has been revealed by a cybersecurity company. Unsurprisingly, the top 10 still consists of strings of sequential characters, phrases from the top of the keyboard and repeated groups of letters.

Opera resets passwords of 1.7m users after 'server breach' By James Walker Opera has informed users of its Opera Sync browser synchronisation service that they need to reset their passwords. The company said it has detected an attack on its systems which may have allowed hackers to steal user passwords and account information.

117 million LinkedIn accounts stolen in 2012 now for sale online By James Walker Nearly four years after LinkedIn was hacked, the site has now confirmed that over 117 million accounts were affected. The number is vastly more than was previously indicated. The findings came to light after the data was found for sale on the dark web.

1 billion email accounts offered for sale on the dark web for $1 By James Walker A lone hacker is selling over a billion email usernames and passwords for only a dollar on the Russian dark web, according to a report. The majority of the accounts are for Mail.ru, Russia's most popular provider, but some cover Google and Microsoft.

Time Warner Cable: Up to 320,000 email passwords possibly stolen By Megan Hamilton Time Warner Cable Inc. reported Wednesday that email passwords for up to 320,000 customers may have been stolen. The company also said it hasn't determined how the information was harvested, but there no indications of a breach at Time Warner Cable.

New password system replaces words with pictures and icons By James Walker A group of security researchers have created a potential password replacement system that uses memorable patterns, pictures and codes instead of the traditional phrase or string of characters. The system is supposed to be easier to use than passwords.

Amazon adds two-factor authentication for stronger security By James Walker With Black Friday nearly upon us, shoppers on Amazon will be able to enjoy some extra security protection this holiday season as the company has finally introduced two-factor authentication support to its website.

Academic researcher publishes 10 million usernames and passwords By Business Insider A security analyst and hacking author just published 10 million web usernames and passwords in the name of academic research.

Dropbox breached, 6 million usernames and passwords stolen By James Walker Four hundred usernames and passwords for Dropbox accounts gathered from users have been posted online in plain text format with an assurance that over 6 million more have also been collected.

Hackers use weak passwords too By Ryan Hite Hackers may seem like the kinds of people who are very well apt with securing their computers, but research shows that they actually are not.

Twitter resets thousands of passwords by accident By Tim Sandle Twitter sent out a message to thousands of users telling them to change their passwords because their accounts had been "compromised". The firm has now admitted that the emails were sent by mistake.

'Password' no longer the Internet's worst password By AFP Washington - The number sequence "123456" has overtaken "password" as the most common worst password among Internet users, an online security firm says.

2 million Facebook, Twitter and Gmail accounts compromised By Al Boe Around 2 million Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts were compromised by hackers in the past month, according to a new report.

Google Chrome security flaw exposes your saved passwords By John Simon Ritchie A Google Chrome flaw found by software designer Elliot Kember allows anyone with access to your computer to find out all of your saved passwords with very little effort.

PayPal's security officer says passwords should be obliterated By Owen Weldon PayPal's security boss said that he would like to see a better way for people to gain access to their internet accounts.

Inside the world of a password hacker By Chris Stewart Nate Anderson, tech author, was curious about just how simple it was to hack someone's password. Could it be done using only freely available information and equipment? What he found out was more than a little surprising.

Are passwords on the way out? EyeVerify uses 'eyeprint' security Special By Leigh Goessl Today people rely on passwords to protect digital information. For years, these strings of code have been the "keys" to access digital property. As 2013 arrives, will passwords be enough to protect valuable personal information?

List of most common passwords released, 'password' still on top By Leigh Goessl A company that develops password management software has released its annual list of the most common passwords. The company noted many of the passwords chosen are poor and the users are likely to become victims in future breaches.

Mom arrested for accessing school computer, changes kids' grades By Leigh Goessl Lehigh Valley - A Pennsylvania mother was arrested for illegally entering a school computer system. Her alleged actions, for which she now faces six felony charges, include adjusting her kids' grades.

Facebook warns employers about asking users for passwords By Leigh Goessl Facebook has issued a post today that warns employers not to ask applicants or employees for passwords. This practice, which has come increasingly under fire in recent months, violates Facebook's terms of service.

Report: Researchers say multi-word passwords not all that safe By Leigh Goessl Passwords today are the digital counterpart of one's physical keys, and over the past several years it has been highlighted by many security experts that a strong password helps provide a better layer of protection.

Op-Ed: Security firm finds 'Password1' the most common business password By Leigh Goessl A security firm has outlined in a recent report that organizations commonly use the password 'Password1' in business systems.

Internet security firm SplashData lists 25 most-hacked passwords By Andrew Moran Los Gatos - Is your password "password?" Well, SplashData, an Internet security firm, has published its Worst Passwords of the Year. According to the list, general terms such as "password," your name or a series of numbers are commonly used.

Hackers strike Gawker sites, user databases 'compromised' By Michael Krebs Citing hacker activity, Gawker Media froze the publication of new content and alerted readers to reset passwords, admitting that user data had been "compromised."

Study Reveals Easy-to-Hack Passwords Are Still a Major Issue By Bill Lindner A major password breach in December 2009 from RockYou.com resulted in 32 million passwords being posted on the Internet. Analysis of those passwords reveals that the use of insecure, weak passwords has changed very little over the past 20 years

Op-Ed: Planet Password? By Alakananda Mookerjee Eons ago, (for it surely feels that way now) when they first came on the scene, they were mere gateways to your electronic mailbox. Depending on how frequently you checked your e-mails, you didn’t have to cross paths with them.

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