Tag: security

 

Pssst… hey, what’s your password? It surely is not on this list, I hope.

admin
 123456
 password
 12345678 666666 111111 1234567
 qwerty
 siteadmin
 administrator
 root
 123123 123321 1234567890
 letmein123
 test123
 demo123
 pass123
 123qwe
 qwe123
 654321
 loveyou
 adminadmin123

Can be it true? According to Sucuri, (an internet security company) it is indeed a list of the top internet passwords. Oh how we loathe to create these digital font monsters. Once we get used to a certain one …BAM! We have to change it up. “Security,  buscurity (<that is a made up word people) … I’m just not going to change it, by gosh I have had enough.” hmmm does that sound familiar?

If so ~ read on … If not, please read on….

Sucuri also notes that when most sites and blogs are compromised it is done by a “brute force” user. This is when an individual or “bot” gains access by running random guesses of password combinations to your blog. They seek out weak points and look for entry; like a thief checking open windows and unlocked doors. It is not unheard of to have 1000’s of combinations tried on the most simple of sites. Stunning, simply stunning.

 

You may be saying to yourself at this point, “oh that would never happen to me – my blog is only important me”.  Regrettably that is just enough reason for some. They are not in it for the money but for sheer joy of wreaking havoc. To better understand a hacker’s mindset, they see any and all personal information as cyber coinage. Exploration of identity, finances and much more is easily in the realm of possibility if they gain enough knowledge.

Hackers have even been know to hold sites hostage. What would you today if you were locked out, if all your images of family and friends were gone. If your art or long suffering writing had been stripped from your access. You would try to get them back I’m sure. Would you succeed? That entirely depends upon two things. 1. your blog security/backup and 2. the level of malicious hacking involved. Often, sites are picked down to bare bones leaving bloggers, site owners, writers with nothing left but the domain.

So today, pause a moment and lock your doors, won’t you? I know I will.

(this is not an endorsement for Sucuri – they are linked as they printed the password list).