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MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

Somewhere in Western Australia, a government IT employee is probably laughing or crying or pulling their hair out (or maybe all of the above). A security audit of the Western Australian government released by the state’s auditor general this week found that 26 percent of its officials had weak, common passwords -- including more than 5,000 including the word “password" out of 234,000 in 17 government agencies.

The legions of lazy passwords were exactly what you -- or a thrilled hacker -- would expect: 1,464 people went for “Password123” and 813 used “password1." Nearly 200 individuals used “password” -- maybe they never changed it to begin with?

Almost 13,000 used variations of the date and season, and almost 7,000 included versions of “123.”

[...] The traditional guidelines for strong passwords -- make them long and complicated, use symbols and a mix of upper and lowercase letters, change them regularly -- were making it easier for hackers, Paul Grassi of the National Institute of Standards and Technology told NPR last June. The organization’s current guidelines for good passwords are that they should be simple, long and easy to remember. It suggests using normal English words and phrases that are easy for users but tougher on hackers.

If you want to keep your accounts secure, pick something that’s lengthy and memorable, and if you change it, switch more than a single letter or digit. And for heaven’s sake, don’t use the word “password.”

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/08/22/western-australian-government-officials-used-password-their-password-cool-cool/?noredirect=on

Original Submission