Experts warn nearly half of the world’s passwords can easily be cracked in just a few minutes


Using real-world samples recovered from the dark web, Kaspersky researchers have tested how long it would take to crack most passwords, and found that almost half of the world’s passwords can be cracked in less than a minute.

Additionally, the research shows that within an hour, that number rises to three out of five passwords.

Armed with this knowledge, the researchers then explored what differentiates a strong password from a weak one.

Read more…
Source:  TechRadar News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • UK VoIP telco receives ‘colossal ransom demand’

    September 2, 2021

    Two UK VoIP operators have had their services disrupted over the last couple of days by ongoing, aggressive DDoS attacks. South Coast-based Voip Unlimited has confirmed it has been slapped with a “colossal ransom demand” after being hit by a sustained and large-scale DDoS attack it believes originated from the Russian cybercriminal gang REvil. This morning, it ...

  • WhatsApp patches vulnerability related to image filter functionality

    September 2, 2021

    Check Point Research has announced the discovery of a vulnerability in the popular messaging platform WhatsApp that allowed attackers to read sensitive information from WhatsApp’s memory. WhatsApp acknowledged the issue and released a security fix for it in February. The messaging platform — considered the most popular globally with about two billion monthly active users — had ...

  • Dissected: A dropper-as-a-service miscreants pay to push their malware onto potentially 1,000s of victims

    September 2, 2021

    A dropper-as-a-service, which cyber-crime newbies can use to easily get their malware onto thousands of victims’ PCs, has been dissected and documented this week. A dropper is a program that, when run, executes a payload of malicious code. The dropper is similar to a trojan, and it can sometimes have other functionality, but its main purpose ...

  • Scam artists are recruiting English speakers for business email campaigns

    September 1, 2021

    Native English speakers are being recruited in their droves by criminals trying to make Business Email Compromise (BEC) more effective. BEC schemes can be simple to execute and among the most potentially devastating for a business, alongside threats such as ransomware. A BEC scam will usually start with a phishing email, tailored and customized depending on the ...

  • Google Play Sign-Ins Allow Covert Location-Tracking

    September 1, 2021

    It’s possible to track someone’s user location via Google Play sign-ins, a researcher has discovered – a potential stalker avenue that, so far, the internet behemoth has yet to address. “With the aid of Google I was able to ‘spy’ on my wife’s whereabouts without having to install anything on her phone,” said Malwarebytes Labs researcher ...

  • Ransomware Awareness for Holidays and Weekends

    August 31, 2021

    CISA and the FBI have released an advisory warning of potential cyberattacks that may occur over the coming Labor Day weekend, noting that in recent years hackers have launched dozens of devastating attacks on long weekends. They urged organizations to take steps to secure their systems, reduce their exposure and potentially “engage in preemptive threat hunting ...