Friday 28 January 2011

Amazon Password Security

I found an interesting article today on CNET, regarding an interesting flaw in older account's password storage.

It appears that only the first eight characters of the password are of any relevance, and any characters that follow are irrelevant.  What does that mean for us? Well, you should probably give it a try to see if it is affecting your account, as the password you are using may not be as secure as you think. Apparently, it is only affecting older accounts, so generate yourself a fresh password just to be sure.

Stay safe.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Welcome to the Deadbolt Password Generator security blog

Another day. Another social network site hacked. Another exposé on common passwords used by users. Another 'shock' to discover that not only are the most common passwords painfully simple, they are also in use by almost every site used by that person.

In the modern world though, individuals are expected to remember passwords for social sites, blogs, bank accounts, shopping sites, etc. - it's almost impossible to remember different ones for each, and even harder to come up with ones that are strong enough to resist brute force attacks.

It's no surprise that people use simple passwords as they are easier to remember than strong passwords, and who wants to go through the inevitable 'forgotten password' process every time they log in?

Deadbolt Password Generator aims to make this process simpler by generating a strong password from a simple, memorable pass phrase. It's a free online service, that aims to make the web a simpler, safer place. This blog will be updated with security tips and advice to help you along the way.

Please give it a try, and feel free to offer any feedback or ideas for improvements.

Stay safe.