passwords

Forget passwords. Your palm could be key to security

Passwords could become a thing of the past if new technology from Intel makes its way to laptops and mobile devices, Reuters reports.

The traditional security method, even when linked to different verification methods, remains an exploit that cybercriminals can pursue. Connectivity online often means that users will keep to the same password, or similar variants -- and once one account is breached, that information can be used to tap into financial information, online payment systems, or sensitive work documents.

But if Intel's prototype "Client-Based Authentication Technology" is successful, biometrics may be the latest defense against cyberattacks.… Read more

One way to make passwords obsolete -- just keep typing

Remembering a clunky password could become a thing of the past, according to researchers at Iowa State University.

Morris Chang, an associate professor of engineering, and his team are working on keystroke authentication -- a way of identifying you by the way you type and how long you pause between keystrokes. Ultimately, such a technique could block unauthorized users based on their typing patterns from gaining access to an account.

Using biometrics to identify and authenticate users isn't new -- think fingerprint recognition or iris scans. But those are one-time verifications. What makes keystroke authentication more secure is the … Read more

E-mail lists, encrypted passwords stolen in Battle.net hack

Game maker Blizzard Entertainment's internal network security has been breached, the company informed customers today.

While the company behind World of Warcraft and Diablo believes no sensitive financial information was compromised, it said e-mail addresses for non-China Battle.net players and scrambled passwords were stolen, Blizzard President Michael Morhaime said in a company blog post:

This week, our security team found an unauthorized and illegal access into our internal network here at Blizzard. We quickly took steps to close off this access and began working with law enforcement and security experts to investigate what happened. At this time, we'… Read more

Let Sticky Password Free remember your passwords for you

Have you just about run out of phrases, dates, and names that add up to strong but memorable passwords? And yet you're constantly being prompted to update your old passwords with new, strong passwords, or you have to create new one when you forget your logon ID or password, again. Sound familiar? What you need is a tool that can generate, manage, and store strong, secure passwords for all your access points. Lamantine Software's Sticky Password Free is just such a tool. It can create strong passwords for all your sites and apps, store them in securely with … Read more

Let Awesome Password Generator create strong, simple passwords for you

When a Web site or app rejects your password as weak, the wrong length, or containing the wrong characters, don't swear and start adding stuff to an existing (and expired) password; download and run Awesome Password Generator instead. This simple, free tool from InfoPro quickly creates strong, random passwords and WPA passphrases of just the right length, type, and number of characters, and other parameters you set. But it doesn't just generate random strings of characters; its algorithms can create strong passwords that aren't difficult to type or that omit confusing characters such as 0 (zero) and … Read more

Apple responds to journalist's iCloud hack

After former Gizmodo reporter Mat Honan's entire digital presence was hacked via a loophole in AppleCare, Apple now says it is looking into how users can reset their account passwords to ensure that their data is protected.

It all began when Honan took to his Tumblr blog on Friday, detailing the events that led to his online life being sabotaged -- with his Google and Twitter accounts being deleted and his MacBook, iPad, and iPhone being wiped clean. He blamed an AppleCare technician for allowing his accounts to be hacked, as well as the tech blog's official feed.… Read more

Stay safe with Password Workbook Pro

Password Workbook Pro by Best Security Tips is a free database tool optimized for saving, storing, and managing not only your secure passwords but also user codes, cell phone logs, contacts, e-mail accounts, credit card info, PINs, network shares, and anything you need keep safe and secure yet accessible.

When we'd finished downloading and installing Password Workbook Pro, we had the opportunity to open an existing database or create a new one; lacking any, we chose the latter, which involves choosing a location and saving the program's proprietary database file. We created a password, known as the combination … Read more

Yahoo user sues over password leak

A New Hampshire man filed suit against Yahoo this week alleging that lax security measures allowed hackers to get into a Yahoo database and steal passwords from 450,000 accounts.

In his lawsuit seeking class-action status -- filed in federal court in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday (PDF) -- Jeff Allan is asking the court to order Yahoo to compensate him and others for "resulting account fraud" and measures people had to take to protect against identity theft.

Not only was Allan's Yahoo password stolen but someone also had accessed his eBay account without his permission after … Read more

Dropbox confirms it was hacked, offers users help

When a few hundred Dropbox users began receiving spam emails about online casinos and gambling sites two weeks ago, it seemed like something was up. And indeed there was.

The online file storage service confirmed today that hackers accessed usernames and passwords from third party sites and then used them to get into Dropbox users' accounts.

"Our investigation found that usernames and passwords recently stolen from other websites were used to sign in to a small number of Dropbox accounts. We've contacted these users and have helped them protect their accounts," the company wrote in a blog … Read more