How to Remember Your Password.. MUST READ..

My four FTP server have been brutally hacked, and they move my websites to PORN ones. Then finally i have decided to move for using some algo for my password. And i have started researching.... and then see what i have found....i thought that i must update the DP users as well....

A Password Cracker is a piece of software that attempts to break into a system by trying many different user names and passwords.

To break a password, a Password Cracker uses two methods of attack to break into your account.

1) Brute Force Attack: In this type of attack, the software generates passwords of every possible combination of words, letters, or even symbols to try to break into your account. The longer the password, the longer it takes to break into the system. However, since computers are gearing up the speed every year (according to Moore's law, the computer speed doubles every 18 months), the time to break a password of any certain length reduces 50% every 1.5 years.

2) Dictionary Attack: This is a more clever method in which the attacker uses a pool of words such as names, common vocabularies, etc., and tries various combinations of them to crack the system. The pool of effective possible choices to use in the trial and error process is much smaller than in a Brute Force Attack because of the more confined choices of numbers and letters to combine. It is very easy to get a word list. Do a search on Google for the search phrase "word list" to look for many databases available on the web.

now lets come to the point.......How to Remember Your Password

Coming up with a password which is both easy to remember and safe is no easy task. Try one or all of these different techniques to create a secure but memorable password.

Develop a Truly Random Password and Use a Mnemonic Device
(*) Use software or, less reliable but usually effective enough, simply jot down letters and numbers as they come to your mind.
(*) Focus on each letter of the password. A way to remember a randomized, assigned difficult password, like "tthertd" can be simple and fun. Think of a sentence where there is one word beginning with each letter of the password, for example, "tthertd" could be "terrible tigers have every right to drive."

Develop an Algorithm
(*) Take the name of the website and then add the last four digits of a friend's home phone number to the end. (Don't use your own phone number, since a clever hacker could try the same algorithm in a dictionary attack.) The password for wikiHow might be "wikiHow4588". This is by way of example only because it is too easy for others to figure out but you would add your own personal twist. Maybe you would spell wikihow backwards. The more steps in your algorithm, and the more unpredictable each step is, the more secure your password.

Combine the Best of You
(*) Choose a favorite number (or two), a favorite word (or two), a favorite symbol (or two). Add the first one (or two) symbols that come to mind when you see the website address or the most prominent words on the sign-in page. Choose an order and put them all together into one long string.

Remove the Vowels
(*) Take a word or phrase and remove the vowels from it (for example, "eat the cheeseburger" becomes "tthchsbrgr").

Use the Keyboard
(*) If your password doesn't use the Q, A, or Z, you can hit the key to the left of your password. Or to the right if you don't use the P, L, or M. 'Speedracer' goes to both sides, but 'wikiHow' can become 'qujugiq' or 'eolojpe'. Shifting things up a key, choose left or right. 'wikiHow' becomes '28i8y92' or '39o9u03'. Shifting up and to the left is slightly more intuitive. Adding the other security measures afterwards is all trivial.

Combine Small Words
(*) Combine. A smart way to develop an easy to remember password is to combine three small words to make a single password. For example, you can use "howstopyes" or "earpengold". If you want an even easier to remember password, you can use words that are related to each other like "yesnomaybe". Be aware, however, that this is much less secure! It adds more security to capitalize the first letters of the different words: "ballzonecart" becomes "BallZoneCart".

Connect the first letters
(*) Develop a password using the first letters of a sentence or phrase that means something to you - like your national anthem or a slogan you have seen somewhere. 'Don't shop for it, Argos it' would become DsfiAi.

Use a Password Manager
(*) Use a password manager, such as "PasswordSafe", "Roboform" or "PassPack" to generate random passwords and then secure them using one master password.

Mix Words
(*) Choose two words and combine their letters to create the password, choosing one letter of the first word and one letter of the second word, and repeating this until you get to the last letter of each word. An example could be:
Words: house & plane
Password: hpoluasnee

Some other tips too.............. i found them on the web....

(*) Change numbers into Roman numerals for more security (i.e. iamcool2 becomes iamcoolii). You can even mix normal numbers and Roman numerals. 1i = 11; 1ii = 12; and so on.

(*)When coming up with a mnemonic sentence, try and make the sentence funny or relevant to yourself. That way you will find it easier to remember the sentence, so you can remember the password.

(*)The more complex and longer the password, the less likely it is to be cracked but it is often proportionately harder to remember.

(*)Mixing letters and numbers is always safer than just using numbers or just using letters.

(*)Try thinking of a name (BOB). Now use only every second letter, being BB. Then go back and plug any other letter you did not type. Your password would be BBO.

Enjoy, and if you have other innovative ways to remember difficult passwords, let me know.

PS: i have collected and compiled this info from various websites while i was researching and to trying to cope up with my FTP Password Problems.

 

Sad to hear what you went through. And Thanks for the Tips, will keep them in mind - Repped.

 

You forgot:

Use numbers and letters closer to the end of the alphabet.
Most software programs that use brute force cracking start with A or (~!@#,and so on) and end at Z.

Example: XxQz8ZtUUu9

Will take longer to crack via brute force.

OH..the post was about remembering not preventing. Sorry.

 

yes, that was very hard to cope up.
so i posted my 1 week research here so that anybody else may not fall pray.

I also like you people if you can add any further in it.

 

Thanks i really appreciate your post

 

No probs Man, here we are talking about Remembering and preventing....

Why we are trying to remember...of course to prevent.....i hope you got that.... but thanks to add one more with my thread.

 

Yea nice job with that post. Looks like you worked hard!

 

yes mate, i had faced problem with my 4 ftp account, so i researched for more than 7 days. And then i posted this post.

HACKERS dont show mercy......

some one said.....

"Prevention is better than cure"

 

Yes you are right "Prevention is better than cure" . No one is safe in todays time on web . But i will say you have reviewed their method very well .

 

Those 7 days were very crucial, they have changed my websites to PORN… displayed scripts, pop-ads. They filled my home pages with nude models. Due to that I had some business loss as well, some of ma clients moved. I have updated them the situation but 2 new clients they simply said “NO”.

My main concern is to spread the awareness among DP members.

 

I use some of those techniques already.
repped.
thanks

 

if you have any other to add in this thread... go ahead...
We'd love to hear some of your techs as well

 

one to add:

Use Year and Month Plus Letters

Use the current year and first three letters of the current month. Then add the three letters from, say, your name. In this case, your password would read 2007aprJoe. Next month, change it to 2007mayJoe. It's impossible to have the same password twice or to forget it.

Many users combine a date component inside a larger password. This helps when the password needs to change from time to time. But, remember to never use only a date because lists of password guesses exist and date only based passwords are at higher risk to being cracked than other choices.

 

well my practises are bit sloppy,compared with what you listed.
I have about 3 main passwords which rotate around depending on site.
I really need to go and change them all. some i use over and over. just out of pure laziness.
my longest pass is about 13letters long no numbers. containing 3 words.
My isp pass i don't use for anything else(as far as i can remember).
My line of thinking is this,keep important pass's for important things and not reuse on "less important" sites. some pass's i reuse on sites which don't matter too much..
usually i put a favorite number with word. specific combo's i would use when it comes to netbanking for example.
bank issues me with a number,then another id number of 4 digits,and then what they call a internet pass,which is different again to first 2 numbers. its highly unusuall so you would have to know me quite well to guess it.
of course brute force probably couldnt stop it.
from now on i'll remove vowels and mix it up more.

 

Hey Really thanks for saharing.This problem of password is so bad...I hope people reading your post will remember.I am sure it will help!

 

nice tips, start thinking change my password

 

Yes vowels are very easy to break, so avoid them. beter mixed it up with others words. Your STRONG PASSWORD may act like a strong wall bwt you and hacker.

 

Thanks, some good ideas there!

 

So, were you "hacked" or was your password cracked?
Sorry for being so technical, haha. Cheers with the recovery process!

 

First password then FTP SERVER.

They runied my days, breaking up my password first. Then they raped my WEBSITES. That was too horrible. So i reseached and got these algo and tips. Implement them with your password you'll never feel the same as i did.