What's in a name? That
which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. - William
Shakespeare
2020 is coming to end almost all of
us are fed up of this year. Many lost jobs, some are forced to take unpaid
leave, not many movies to watch, theatres closed, travelling is a risky
business, being foodie is tough task and so on. Coming to good news, this
global pandemic made us realize we are lucky than many people. Instead of
focusing on what to do next, we started to list what we have and be thankful
for it. Surprisingly, many of my friends getting married are both good and bad
news. Jokes aside, 2020 happened to be one crazy year. Coming to topic, Cyber
Security is still an important issue that needs to be addressed. Despite of
Lockdown, Unlock and few other things, cyber security awareness is still a myth
among many people around us. The fact that many more people to fell to OTP SCAM
this year compared to previous year firmly indicates that we need to be stay
alert and cautious about our security and privacy issues.
May 7 is celebrated as World Password
Day. It came along to provide a warning to the world, and to spread awareness
that taking care of your passwords is vital to protecting yourself. It is very
important to keep passwords safe, secure, change it constantly and last but not
least, not to share with anyone. That being said, I asked my friends, what's
their password? I mean, I'm no hacker, I don't wanna read love letters they've
saved in their draft. It's just common curiosity on what's in their password?
Jai Hanuman, Virat Kohli, Love You Tamanna etc. And their responses were pretty
awesome. Here are top three answers:
1. Ning yaake beku adu? (In legendary Ambi voice)
(Translation: Why do you need that?)
2. Magaa, send me ₹2000/- (I asked him what's in his
password, he asked me ₹2000/- to shut me up. Foolproof plan, try it.)
3. I don't know it was long time ago; maybe it's Aishwarya,
my college junior.
So, that's it, that's where we are
today. I know it's wrong and unethical to ask people's passwords. But this was
for educational purpose; does that cut off my sin? It's tomorrow's problem, let's
deal with it tomorrow. Coming to today, password updating and creating strong
password is like Vitamin D, it's important and necessary. Random Survey on
international website HEALTH IT posted an article about the list of The Usual
Passwords. Here are most frequently used passwords, I don't know about others,
but I'm pretty sure 19th password belongs to Monica Geller, I know:
|
123456 |
12345678 |
abc123 |
654321 |
princess |
|
123456789 |
12345 |
qwerty123 |
555555 |
dragon |
|
qwerty |
iloveyou |
1q2w3e4r |
lovely |
password1 |
|
password |
111111 |
Admin |
7777777 |
123qwe |
|
1234567 |
123123 |
Qwertyuiop |
888888 |
666666 |
If your password matches or comes
close to any passwords mentioned above, kindly change it. Here are few tips to
consider while changing it:
The Usual Suspects:
One capital letter, one small letter,
one number and a symbol are the usual suspects I mean usual pillars of a strong
password. Your password must have these four guys.
Like toothbrush:
Yes, password is like a toothbrush,
change it periodically and don't share it with anyone.
Radhika Apte and
Netflix:
That one time it became a internet joke
about Netflix shows featuring Radhika Apte more often. I mean she's talented
actress, aa maatu bere. But please don't use the same password everywhere. I
know it's hard to track which password is for which website, bit constantly
using them will help you remember it.
For Your Eyes Only:
For safekeeping of books, ledgers,
ATM Cards, e-mail account, don't write your passwords anywhere. It'll be hard
to remember all of them at first, but once you get used to it, there's no going
back. Sad news for Time Travellers.
Passwords are for Kids:
Sometimes strong password is not
enough. Consider the password Hanuman@12 - One would think it's a strong
password because it has capital letter, small letter, number and symbol. But
sometimes even that is not enough, if one figure out the keyword, your password
is weak.
Passphrase, the
Superhero we deserve:
As I said, sometimes, passwords
aren't enough. So, using passphrase is better idea. Consider MVEM@JSUNP9. No
one would remember this password and can't guess it, but it'll be easy for you
to enter. The explanation is Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus
Neptune Pluto. @ symbol after 4 planets represents asteroid belt and 9 number
at the end indicates 9 planets.
And Then There Were
None:
Sometimes life is like The Truman
Show, someone's always watching us or should I say it's like being in Big Boss
home, according to nativity. Be careful while entering your password, make sure
no one is around it and cover your hands while typing just in case if you're in
CCTV recording area.
That being said, Wish you Happy New
Year 2021. Hope this New Year brings love, peace and constant urge to change
passwords frequently. Jokes aside, wish you happy and prosperous New Year, have
a safe and peaceful one. Privacy is like a lucky penny, it should be protected
at all costs. Because, you know, A penny saved is a penny earned. Was I talking
about The Big Bang Theory actress Kaley Cuoco here? You'll never know!
