Password Perplexity

By Tim K.

 

81% of purloined accounts are cracked by leveraging their insecure passwords. That’s a lot, considering nine million identities are stolen every year. This is all due to anemic passwords and can be easily stopped with the literal press of a button.

Contrary to the name, hackers don’t actually have to do much hacking these days. People are getting more apathetic with their passwords each year. According to a Microsoft Research Study, the average tech user types about eight passwords a day. This constant repetition makes it nearly impossible to remember intricate passwords for every single distinct account. Because of this hair-pulling exasperation, people tend to reuse passwords from previous accounts, or even worse, simplify them, which is unnecessary; people can simply download a password manager to keep their passwords in check. “Hackers are using common terms from pop culture and sports to break into accounts online," says Morgan Slain, CEO of SplashData. "They know many people are using those easy-to-remember words.” The password standards now are worse than ever, as 3% of (tech) users find ‘123456’ a suitable password to protect their precious personal information and credit card number. It’s practically an invitation for your identity and your money to get filched.

         

        Brute forcing your way into private accounts isn’t the only way to access private information. Phishing is a form of hacking where it seems as though you’re being emailed by a friend or relative, or affiliate company in corporate operations, but in actuality, you’re being contacted by a malicious hacker. Hackers may send you a form or website that encrypts your data, putting it under lock and key, unless you have the decryption code, only given when you pay a hefty sum of cash in a select period of time. This method is prominent in hacking big businesses, since for a corporate employee, one in every 4,200 emails is a phishing scam.

Another way hackers can get their hands on your information is by exploiting weak public WiFi, which occurs in 35% percent of all cyber exploitation. Hackers may buy a WiFi repeater and imitate the name of nearby cafe or airport WiFi to become a fraudulent WiFi hotspot. They can then hack into your phone or laptop to access things like bank accounts and credit cards. Another way is to set up shop between you and the source of the WiFi to intercept your connection and observe your interactions. And yes, in case you were wondering, people do tend to shop online, log into company accounts, and even access private information, all with the comfort of a hacker looming over them on public WiFi.

Surprisingly, these precarious and pernicious poachers of the interwebs can be brought down with a few taps of the mouse. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a completely secure way of stonewalling your private account. Here’s the rundown: MFA provides a series of ways to prove you’re you. It can add an additional pin to supplement your password; you might be sent a code via email. While even a strong 12 digit password can be broken by some malware, MFA provides the added layer of security to keep the key punchers out, and your personal accounts in. Another method which was mentioned before is a password manager. While MFA can lead to a lot of hassle with emails and phone numbers, a password manager will automatically fill in your password for you on your personal device. So, instead of making your password ‘jordan23,’ Little Jimmy, you can simply install a password manager like Keeper or LastPass.

Getting hacked just comes down to you and your laziness. Using simple passwords may save you time, but it doesn’t save your credentials. Just think of T-mobile, who in 2018, got hacked, revealing the private information of over two million users. Hackers are ruthless criminals, and if you aren’t careful, they might already be onto you.