{"id":885,"date":"2013-02-02T14:19:40","date_gmt":"2013-02-02T19:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=885"},"modified":"2013-02-02T14:19:40","modified_gmt":"2013-02-02T19:19:40","slug":"how-to-create-a-strong-password-in-wake-of-twitter-hack-episode-pcworld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/02\/02\/how-to-create-a-strong-password-in-wake-of-twitter-hack-episode-pcworld\/","title":{"rendered":"How to create a strong password in wake of Twitter hack episode"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/2026979\/tweet-of-day-how-to-create-a-strong-password-to-guard-against-hackers.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/nccomputertech.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/02\/password_digita-100010084-gallery.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Twitter\u2019s warning about hackers is another reminder about the importance of password protection.<br \/>\nHere\u2019s a guide to creating a strong password and keeping out of the clutches of those who would do your computer and personal information harm.<br \/>\nA strong password is one that cannot be easily guessed or broken by a brute force attack in a reasonable amount of time. It should contain numbers, punctuation, and upper- and lower-case letters. It also shouldn\u2019t include anything likely to be found in a dictionary or a common name.<br \/>\nAnd as Twitter pointed out as the microblogging site announced that hackers may have gained access to data regarding 250,000 of its users including user names, email addresses and encrypted passwords, longer is better. A 15-character password may be 90 times harder to crack than a 14-character one.<br \/>\nThat said, it needs to be something you can remember, and there are tricks to creating passwords that are not only seemingly random but also easy to recall.<br \/>\n\u201cCreate a formula that you&#8217;ll remember but no one else could guess. For instance, you could use the name of your alma mater, spelled backwards, capitalizing every letter that rhymes with the word tree, followed by your phone number typed while holding down SHIFT (to get punctuation), and ending with the year you were born, squared,\u201d writes PCWorld\u2019s Lincoln Spector.<br \/>\nKeep in mind your passwords should never include any personal information, because any novice hacker can easily find out your full name, the names of your spouse or children, your pets, or your favorite sports teams. It\u2019s also important to use a different password for various sites &#8212; never use the same password twice.<br \/>\nIf all that sounds like too much trouble, there are options.<br \/>\nYou can use a password manager such as Password Safe (available as a download on PCWorld). It\u2019s free, open source and uses strong twofish encryption. It can generate truly random passwords for you, following rules that you set. It can insert a login name and password into a Web form. And you can organize your passwords into groups.<br \/>\nAlso consider two-factor authentication. You can set Google and Facebook to send you a temporary PIN to your cell phone whenever you log in from an unfamiliar machine (this PIN must be provided along with your password the first time you attempt to log in via that new machine).<br \/>\nFor even more password creation tips, check out Password Management: Idiot-Proof Tips.<br \/>\nTwitter isn\u2019t alone in being a victim. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post are other high-profile companies that have recently been hacked.<br \/>\nTwitter emailed affected users Friday, telling them to reset their passwords, and the site offered some helpful advice about passwords in a blog post written by Bob Lord, director of information security for Twitter.<br \/>\nvia <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/2026979\/tweet-of-day-how-to-create-a-strong-password-to-guard-against-hackers.html\" target=\"_blank\">How to create a strong password in wake of Twitter hack episode | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twitter\u2019s warning about hackers is another reminder about the importance of password protection. Here\u2019s a guide to creating a strong [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,10],"tags":[797,1110],"class_list":["post-885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-technology","tag-passwords","tag-twitter"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-eh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5724,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/06\/12\/its-official-malicious-hackers-have-crappy-password-hygiene-too\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":0},"title":"It\u2019s official: Malicious hackers have crappy password hygiene, too","author":"NCCT","date":"June 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Given the amount of time malicious hackers spend bypassing other people's security, you might think that they pay close attention to locking down their own digital fortresses. It turns out that many of them don't, according to a recent blog post documenting some of their sloppiest password hygiene. The post\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Security&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/sewer-640x480.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/sewer-640x480.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/sewer-640x480.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9031,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2016\/09\/24\/heres-what-you-should-know-and-do-about-the-yahoo-breach\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":1},"title":"Here&#8217;s what you should know, and do, about the Yahoo breach","author":"NCCT","date":"September 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Lucian Constantin | IDG News Service | PCWorld Yahoo\u2019s announcement that state-sponsored hackers have stolen the details of at least 500 million accounts shocks both through scale\u2014it\u2019s the largest data breach ever\u2014and the potential security implications for users. That\u2019s because Yahoo, unlike MySpace, LinkedIn and other online services that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Security&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3166,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/08\/12\/password-thieves-target-blogs-content-management-sites\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":2},"title":"Password thieves target blogs, content management sites","author":"NCCT","date":"August 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Brute force attacks to pry login credentials from content management sites like blogs have been growing as more data robbers use a short-term gain for a bigger payoff later on. Such sites are attractive targets because they tend to be less secure than other environments\u2014such as financial services\u2014and since they're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Security&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7464,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/01\/19\/travelers-beware-hackers-are-after-your-information\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":3},"title":"Travelers beware: Hackers are after your information","author":"NCCT","date":"January 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Frequent fliers get all the perks\u2014and all the attention from cyber criminals, apparently. United Airlines, American Airlines, and Park-n-Fly have all reported breaches in the past few days, pointing to an emerging trend of attacks targeted specifically at travelers. Travelers can be an easy mark for cyber criminals, because they're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Security&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2971,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/07\/17\/tumblr-tells-users-to-change-passwords-patches-security-hole-in-ios-apps\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":4},"title":"Tumblr tells users to change passwords, patches security hole in iOS apps","author":"NCCT","date":"July 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Tumblr, the blogging site recently acquired by Yahoo, has released a security update for its iPhone and iPad apps that it said addresses an issue that allowed passwords to be compromised in certain circumstances. Users of the apps have been advised to update their passwords on Tumblr as there is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Security&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8943,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2016\/06\/10\/twitter-is-notifying-affected-users-after-millions-of-login-details-leaked\/","url_meta":{"origin":885,"position":5},"title":"Twitter is notifying affected users after millions of login details leaked","author":"NCCT","date":"June 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Ian Paul | PCWorld Users worried about being caught up in the recent leak of more than 32 million Twitter login credentials should already know if they\u2019ve been hacked. Twitter confirmed on Friday that it was notifying users whose valid login credentials were recently being passed around on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Security&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}