All your passwords belong to us

I think I detected a discernible sigh of relief this week from billions of Internet users with 56-character passwords.

I could be wrong. Likely I am.

People try all sorts of crazy things to manage passwords, but 55 character strings are not anywhere near the top of the list.

This week has been another example of the hacker blitz on passwords; leading off with the password-cracker program oclHashcat-plus, which was infused with upgrades that allow it to break passwords as long as 55 characters.

Talk about bringing down barriers to entry. Perhaps the last of our defenses are gone. And by the way, oclHashcat-plus is a free download if you’re looking for a cheap and sinister hobby.

SOURCE: zdnet.com