“The password is the root of all evil,” says an expert. Google/Warzel You have a problem. Your online passwords — the barrier that protects your most private correspondence, financial data and nearly every element of your identity and life — are a mess. Feel (a little) better: Its not totally your fault. Though this past weeks enormous Heartbleed security flaw has brought the dismal state of password security back into the spotlight, passwords have long been a problem as the internet continues to embed itself into our lives. We, the users, are partly at fault — when it comes to passwords, were prone to dangerous laziness. Every year SplashData releases a list of the most used passwords, a record of half-attempts at security. For years password was the worlds most popular password, only to be replaced in 2013 by the equally pathetic 123456. As bad as these are, though, the crucial flaw is systemic. The fundamental structure of usernames and passwords grow more obsolete each day. Its a technology built for an internet that no longer exists — one that didnt fully realize and anticipate now-habitual activities like online banking and commerce. And as our digital lives continue to merge and become indistinguishable from our physical ones, passwords have never been more common, important, or vulnerable. The infrastructure has never been more outdated and the stakes have never been higher. People need to have strong unique passwords for every site and service, but that is an impossible thing to ask of people, says Jeffrey Goldberg, an engineer for the password management software, 1Password, whose official title is Defender Against the Dark Arts. Anyone with an active online presence will agree that the number of passwords an average user must keep track of is untenable. According to a 2012 survey by Experian, 25- to 34-year olds have an average of 40 active online accounts. Password Meter / Via passwordmeter Another problem, according to numerous security experts, is that, despite recent high-profile leaks and breaches, most casual internet users are conditioned by old password behaviors and lulled into a false sense of security. And most simply dont care until its too late. Its kind of like car insurance, Goldbergs 1Password colleague, Dave Chartier tells . Most of the time you dont think about it and then something goes wrong and you immediately realize how bad you need it. Our biggest obstacle is probably human behavior — the sheer desire to do a things were not interested in in the shortest time possible. As a result, roughly $250 billion is lost to fraud each year, along with $110 billion to cybercrime, Jonathan Klein, president of Virginia-based enterprise software company MicroStrategy, tells . The password is the root of all evil, here, he says. Its a broken system and our view is that all these examples — from Heartbleed to the NSA leaks — are a sign that theres a giant meteor hurtling toward us. Similar to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, except in this case its going to be usernames and passwords. Yet for all the current systems flaws, experts cant seem to agree on the best solution to the password problem. Kleins Microstrategy is developing Usher, a mobile app that combines biometrics, traditional encryption, and your smartphone to authenticate your identity. Ushers ambitious goal is to completely eliminate both physical forms of ID as well as digital access credentials. Microstrategy is currently working with multiple states to supplement physical drivers licenses with digital copies and believes that biometric and mobile technology will allow for rapid adoption. We think this is the year, Klein says. Youll see states deploying this kind of thing to millions of citizens and corporations deploying to millions of customers in 2014. Similarly, companies like Motorola — the research team of which is owned by Google — have been experimenting with biometric password solutions. Last summer, the company made news by unveiling demos of a skin patch and password pill, which creates electricity from chemical processes in the body and authors a digital signal that allows users to authenticate devices like smartphones simply through touch. View Entire List › Read Full Article on goo.gl/gskhgM
Posted on: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 14:16:24 +0000
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