Crack a password

Try to be one step ahead of the game. Try and use different and hard to guess passwords and pin numbers for each account, or credit card, or transaction, so that no one can have easy access to any or all of them.

by Victor Cherubim-Dec 5, 2016

( December 6, 2016, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The British during the war were best at cracking codes and according to some continue to be the best at encryption today.

But having your email account hacked is a nightmare many have gone through. When you have been exposed to hackers, who are masters of cyber crime, you wonder whether stealing your password is any different to cracking codes.

Hackers can steal your passwords in many different ways. It is easier than you think. With every attempt at cracking your password, their techniques become more and more sophisticated. The more it is difficult the more it becomes enticing, the more it is
enticing, the more it becomes a pastime, like cracking codes.

Many, who have been hacked, think it is not funny, but they are unable to do much more than change their password, or appeal to their internet providers to come up with safer and more secure measures to protect and verify authentication. It is a hard act.

Identity theft

The theft of identity is a lucrative business. Criminals with access to your personal information can open false bank accounts, order fake credit cards, and get personal loans and even state benefits. Worse scenario they may be able to get false passports and driving licences in your name.

Have you ever connected to a public Wi-Fi and logged into any accounts? Your password could already have been stolen.

“A common attack is Wi-Fi monitoring, where a hacker uses a simple application that can easily be downloaded from the internet for free to watch all traffic on a public Wi-Fi network. Once you enter your username and password, the software notifies them and the hacker intercepts the information.”

Wi-Fi is like a communicable disease, you can access all the Wi-Fi service providers in the neighbourhood on your mobile or your internet. It is as easy as that. It only takes a few more minutes to use a programme, sometimes sophisticated, most often not, to
access your password and login combination.

Who are the people most at risk?

We are told to apply for a credit rating check when we ask for credit or for many ordinary day to day activities. Ironically, applying for a credit report can sometimes increase your chances of becoming a victim to one of these crimes.

You have scammers who think outside the box, who create websites they charge for credit reports. 

Identity thieves are in on the act using these nefarious methods to extract personal information and financial data in order to commit the very crimes against you that you on your own are trying hard to prevent.

Thus the people at most risk are the very people who are doing everything to prevent identity theft. Isn’t it strange? But strange things happen all the time?

Can you do anything to stop this thriving business?

Try to be one step ahead of the game. Try and use different and hard to guess passwords and pin numbers for each account, or credit card, or transaction, so that no one can have easy access to any or all of them.

You are your ONLY firewall. Using the same password for all websites is not an option. It is too risky.

But you may say that you cannot remember a dozen or more complex passwords in your head, let alone figure out the right password for the right account transaction.

Besides, it is easy to forget your password, or even to retrieve a correct password?

Blame those who created passwords and pin numbers as identity authenticators? Soon I guess passwords will be a thing of the past, as too many cyber criminals have got in on the act.

What will replace passwords in future?

The very people who created the password as a security check are now discovering new ways of identification.

There are a number of different methods of authentication mechanism. They are putting to shame password and pin verification process.

Voice recognition, biometric “iris” recognition, fingerprint authentication are some.

The problem of replacement of passwords is the management and protection is becoming increasingly problematic.

The whole idea of authentication revolves round cost of implementation of verification infrastructure. When and what will replace passwords and pin numbers is your guess.

Do you really think that the internet is a safe place anymore?