Digital Security: Why your passwords are too easy to crack

Passwords, once hailed as the de facto standard of digital security, are now being looked at with suspicion. While having different passwords for different platforms may help secure digital locks in a better way, a cognitive phenomenon called “interference of memory” points out that we cannot firmly remember more than five text passwords on an average. Altho-ugh we know how safe our passwords should be, we tend to ignore this knowledge in favour of using easy-to-remember passwords because the fear of forgetting is stronger than the fear of being hacked.” As per the ‘Worst Passwords List’ compiled by SplashData, the two most commonly used passwords are ‘123456’ and ‘password’ and surprisingly, both of them have remained at the top of the index since 2011. “Decentralised identity stores using blockchain, where no single system has the entire identity, is a promising way to ensure security of accounts,” says Mr Ray. Shailendra Naidu, CEO of Obopay, points out, “The tech world giants like Microsoft, Apple and Google have efficiently put to use several alternative authenticators like voice print, fingerprints, location based identification, mobile authentication but such authenticators are underutilised and still have a long way to go in gaining user confidence.” To conclude, keeping alpha-numeric passwords, regular updation of passwords, and using different passwords for different platforms, using biometrics, and connecting accounts with physical devices are the most feasible methods to fortify one’s online accounts from any cyber threat.