protection of identity and privacy ! Discriminate passwords as weak or strong ! Recognize the role of passwords in authentication ! Recognize the relationship between authentication and both identity and privacy
multiple websites. of consumers only have five passwords or less. of consumers change their passwords only once a year or less. of consumers feel secure with their current password management and use habits. of consumers have had an online account compromised. source: http://www.csid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/CS_PasswordSurvey_FullReport_FINAL.pdf
sites to reveal passwords Had an online account compromised Had personal info stolen as result of company breach None of above 0 18 35 53 70 65 12 21 6 8 1 in 5 people has had an online account compromised
an entity that confirms the entity’s identity.” Why are passwords needed? • Passwords are used for authentication • Authentication can be thought of as the act of linking yourself to your electronic identity within the system you are connecting to • Your password is used to verify to the system that you are the legitimate owner of the user/account identifier • Commonly referred to as “logging in”
on various systems and in turn … • Access your personal information (invade Your Privacy) • Impersonate you by acting on your behalf (steal Your Identity)
that have been altered: • Reversed (e.g., “terces”) • Mixed case (e.g., SeCreT) • Words with vowels removed (e.g., “scrt”) • based on common names • based on user/account identifier • short (under 6 characters) • based on keyboard patterns (e.g., “qwerty”) • composed of single symbol type (e.g., all numbers) • are difficult for you to remember CHARACTERISTICS OF WEAK PASSWORDS
passwords • use of previously recorded passwords (combination of above practices) • use of password on two or more systems/contexts • Especially risky when passwords are reused in low-trust systems (e.g., online gaming) since increased exposure
• digit (0..9) • letter (a..Z) • punctuation symbol (e.g., !) • are based on a verse (e.g., passphrase) • are easily remembered by you but very difficult (preferably impossible) for others to guess CHARACTERISTICS OF STRONG PASSWORDS
(write down) a password anywhere • use a different password for each system/context • check for keyboard buffer devices/ software that intercept keystrokes (including password capture) • change password occasionally • change your password immediately if you suspect it has been “stolen”
letters, numbers and symbols. They are hardest to crack. Create passwords that are 10 characters or longer that include uppercase letters, lowercase letters, symbols and numbers. • DO use a unique password for each account and vary the email addresses you use for accounts. • DO NOT store your account information in an unsecured document on your computer or network. • DO NOT share your password — even with friends and family
poor password habits, as well as proper password creation and management techniques. • DO consider compulsory education for passwords and understand the risk-to-cost ratio for implementing these protocols. • DO monitor employee credentials for compromise, and offer identity monitoring packages to employees and/or customers. • DO research and implement two-factor authentication techniques for online accounts. • DO have a plan in place in case of a company breach.