Hotmail Scam Reveals Most Common Password: 123456
It's never fun to be on the wrong end of a hack. But often, we can use them as learning experiences So, what did we learn when around 10,000 Hotmail, MSN, and Live.com account passwords were revealed on PasteBin last weekend? Either people are lazy or our memories have withered away to nothing in this digital age. According to Wired, the most common password on the list was "123456." That's right, a series of consecutive numbers was the password to 64 e-mail accounts on the list. Bogdan Calin from the security site Acunetix analyzed the password list and found other disturbing trends, too. For example, just 6-percent used passwords that mixed numbers and letters. Nearly 42-percent of the passwords used only lowercase letters. What's truly scary is that the list only included addresses beginning with the letter 'A' or 'B,' which means we're only seeing a small small sampling.
What can you do to protect your e-mail from hackers? Well, if your password fits one of the above categories, you've got a long way to go. Fortunately, though, strengthening your password is pretty easy. At the very least, mix numbers, letters, and symbols to create a unique, longer password. If you're worried about having to remember all those letters and numbers, check out a password management program like KeePas, RoboForm, or 1Password. For more on keeping your computer and online accounts safe, check out our list of security tips. [From: Wired]
9 Wacky Webcomics
The Perry Bible Fellowship
The Perry Bible Fellowship started in the Syracuse University newspaper The Daily Orange, and has since become a cult-favorite webcomic. The strips are full of weird, morbid humor, brilliant satire, and has appeared in such highly regarded papers as the UK Guardian. Some have compared it to Gary Larson's The Far Side, and the strip has won various comic awards over the years. Excellent stuff.
Penny Arcade
Probably the single best-known video game comic on the Web (and there are lots of them), Penny Arcade addresses everything from overly enthusiastic fanboys to the gameplay balance issues in, say, the Killzone 2 demo. Zombies, a talking DIVX player, and a certain robotic juicer all make regular appearances. In addition to the comic, Penny Arcade also hosts Child's Play, a great children's charity, and an annual gaming convention called PAX, held each year in the Seattle area. The Penny Arcade crew even managed to put together its own downloadable Xbox Live Arcade title, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.
Get Your War On
One of the best webcomics of all time, David Rees' cult classic is mostly about political issues, and very much the so-called "War on Terrorism." The strip is assembled from simple clip art pictures of office workers that continuously recur (often in the same strip), but this is part of the comic's charm, and fits its disenchanted, cynical take on modern politics and culture. There's now a book out, as well as a series of animated cartoons having hit the Web in 2008 as well.
Achewood
Achewood is about a group of anthropomorphic stuffed toys, robots, and pets, most of whom live together in the home of their owner, Chris. The absurdist humor isn't about setups and punchlines, but rather hinges quite a bit on non-sequiters and ridiculous, branching weirdness. Fans of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim will find a lot to love here.
Captain RibMan
Another comic full of biting political commentary, Captain RibMan concens the eponomyous superhero; while he can fly, however, RibMan he spends most of his time reclining in front of the television set and yapping (his cape is actually a checkered tablecloth). He plays off of Billy, the comic's straight man (or boy, in this case), who believes everything he's told. Expect guest appearances by celebrities ranging from Sammy Sosa to Jerry Seinfeld. Though no longer being published, this comic can be found all over the Web in various shapes and forms.
Creased Comics
Brad Neely is a weird guy, and Creased Comics shows you exactly how and why. "Cox & Combes' Washington" is perhaps his most popular webcomic, but all of his Web work, including the excellent Professor Brothers is available on Creased. Neely has consulted on South Park and worked on content for Adult Swim and Super Deluxe, and it shows: this stuff is waaay left field, and probably not too kid-friendly (though this depends on your kids, we'd imagine). Be sure to check out his (unauthorized) spoof of Harry Potter called Wizard People, Dear Readers.
Evil Inc.
Evil Inc, now available both in newspaper and webcomic form, is a hilarious narrative about the trials and tribulations of a business run by supervillains. The comic follows a strong story arc (it's worth starting from the beginning), and parodies plenty of superhero lore and clichés along the way (including Justice League, superfans). Expect lots of puns, parodies, and enough spandex to clothe the Tour de France.
Flintlocke's Guide to Azeroth
This comic is rendered entirely with in-engine stills from World of Warcraft -- and remarkably, it looks great. The characters all self-aware (that is, they know that they're players in an MMORPG), and herein lies the comedy. The strips are mostly about the game itself, full of in-jokes and subtle references; if you've never played WoW (or been a desperate junkie, for that matter), much of it may go over your head. If you're a regular player and haven't checked out the Guide to Azeroth, however, you're totally missing out.
The Adventures of Dr. McNinja
This webcomic is published an impressive three times a week, and concerns the adventures of a character named Dr. McNinja -- who, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a thirty-five-year-old ninja who also happens to be a doctor. The doctor is usually seen wearing slacks, a button-down shirt and tie, a lab coat, a ninja mask, and a stethoscope around his neck, essentially making him one of the best dudes out there. The first story was published in 2004 as a one-off, and the comic has been in regular publication since late 2005.





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Comments
59
Subscribe to commentsLe Big MacOct 7th 2009 2:09PM
I thought hotmail required 8-character passwords.
CoreyROct 7th 2009 3:17PM
it is because people are having to remember too many passwords for too many things. then we have to change all these passwords every couple of weeks. Who can possibly keep up with all of it? Of course people are going to start dumbing down their passwords, they have to.
biggums5000Oct 9th 2009 10:12AM
you have to dumb things down if your dumb.
Ed McCorduckOct 8th 2009 3:21AM
The popularity of the 123456 password calls to mind these lines from the 1987 Mel Brooks farce _Spaceballs_, which shows that lax "thinking" about security isn't confined to the Internet age (thanks to generationterrorists.com/quotes/spaceballs.html for serving up this transcript of the film's dialog):
ROLAND: No, wait, wait. I'll tell. I'll tell.
HELMET: I knew it would work. All right, give to me.
ROLAND: The combination is one.
HELMET: One.
SANDURZ: One.
ROLAND: Two.
HELMET: Two.
SANDURZ: Two.
ROLAND: Three.
HELMET: Three.
SANDURZ: Three
ROLAND: Four.
HELMET: Four.
SANDURZ: Four.
ROLAND: Five.
HELMET: Five.
SANDURZ: Five.
HELMET: So the combination is one, two, three, four, five. That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my life. That's the kinda thing an idiot would have on his luggage.
.
.
.
HELMET: We have the combination.
SKROOB: Great. Now we can take every last breath fresh air from planet Druidia. What's the combination?
SANDURZ: One, two, three, four, five.
SKROOB: One, two, three, four, five? That's amazing. I've got the same combination on my luggage.
mindirellaOct 8th 2009 11:43AM
That is so funny that you wrote your post. Because that is totally the 1st thing that came to my head when I read this! :)
Love that movie!
AshleyOct 8th 2009 5:24PM
Love your comment! That is the first thing I thought of to!! Gonna go watch the movie now!!
johnnyOct 9th 2009 6:37AM
that was great
TovaOct 9th 2009 1:58PM
That is so funny, thanks for sharing it.
Bob JonesOct 8th 2009 5:27AM
This doesn't surprise me at all. These days you have so many passwords for so many accounts - the worst thing is that these people probably use the same one for everything!
I use Deadbolt Password Generator to create me passwords based on memorable phrases, but the trouble is most people are to lazy to take this extra step.
jbjg24mOct 8th 2009 6:12AM
hate to say it, but that used to be my password for old isp that i used to have. i have changed providers and also the password since the first of this year!
denotchkaOct 8th 2009 7:14AM
What a bunch of morons! What they didn't think some criminal was going to find out? You're supposed to use something akint oa comination of numbers and letters. I'm not using any of mine, but: 1#s$6z8)!#5 or longer, Preferrably between 4-16 characters and hard to figure out/
ritley123Oct 8th 2009 7:47AM
*sarcasm*\ Oh thats clever telling everyone what the most common password is.
jmycrkcrn555Oct 9th 2009 12:13PM
Yeah right, like they're letting out some big secret.
vgkflcOct 8th 2009 8:14AM
can you say duh
watdafukOct 8th 2009 1:54PM
That`s why i outsmarted them i used 654321, no wait i mean oh %$#* doh !
ritchiebalmOct 8th 2009 8:58AM
Don't read comments too often, but I did today. I now realize how many stupid people are in the world. It just blows my mind. you can still go back to school. give it a try, you might like it , So get smart now , It;s never too late.
Howard H.Oct 8th 2009 1:05PM
Not everyone can be as smart as you. We are not all perfect like you.
merle t cornponeOct 9th 2009 8:42AM
The IQ of a dog is about 40, maybe 42 for a smart dog. The average IQ of a person is 100. The IQ of a human genius is above 175.
A person with an IQ of 160 is as much smarter than an average person as an average person is smarter than a dog.
Being smart has nothing to do with being perfect. On the other hand, think tanks do not employ dogs or average people, so some doors are open to very intelligent persons that remain closed to the average person.
Another thing that might lead one to assume stupidity abounds on this forum is the very high percentage of responses coming from very young people with no functional life experience from which to draw. Calling someone an idiot in caps without providing some argument to substantiate your position is a way to prove you disagree but without some facts to explain your position, it becomes a meaningless rant.
I suspect that a very intelligent person would not take a forum such as this one very seriously.
BobOct 8th 2009 9:12AM
The best way to select passwords are select a word from a foreign language, then it will be really random in english. For instance, select the word for "skinny woman" in Italian and use it for your name. Etc. In my case, "Bob" is not my real name, it is the Finnish word for "an available woman".
sdigaetanosOct 8th 2009 11:18AM
Funny!