The problem with passwords
Published May 21, 2015
Editorial by Burlington Times-News, May 19, 2015.
How many passwords is too many? For most of us, it’s more than one. Today, though, that’s just about everybody. According to Microsoft research, the average American has 25 accounts requiring passwords and accesses about eight of them every day. Most use some variation of one or two passwords to avoid their own confusion. Trouble is, that fails to foil persistent hackers.
As a result, the good ol; U.S. government proposes to improve cybersecurity and end the nation’s “password fatigue” by making the password extinct. The mantra of the Obama administration’s cybersecurity coordinator, Michael Daniel, is “kill the password dead,” but don’t write its obituary yet. Alternatives on the table carry their own risks. Another roadblock to freedom from passwords is the government itself, which wants technology it alone can hack.
We may be tired of too many passwords, but perhaps not that tired.
Yes, passwords could theoretically be gone tomorrow, replaced with thumbprints, facial recognition, eye scans and other sophisticated (and expensive) authentications. Many people, however, remain distrustful of biometric scans, and the theft of a thumbprint would be worse than that of a password.
Then there’s the government’s role. Both the Justice Department and the FBI have been hostile to truly secure technological advances, such as the hack-proof phones Google and Apple introduced last year. They want police agencies to be able to access private information when “appropriate.”
Hmmm. Appropriate is one of those “eye of the beholder” kind of words.
This leaves consumers with passwords until America works out its privacy issues. It’s good the private sector stands ready to help there, too. A number of new products, such as IPassword and PasswordBox, promise to store and apply passwords for the forgetful or the generally irate. They’re a solution for now. Until, of course, those companies are hacked.
And it’ll happen. Bet on it.
May 21, 2015 at 9:39 am
Norm Kelly says:
Trick question: what's worse, having one of the online password storing companies get hacked or have ONLY the feds with access to your accounts? Of course, the obvious and only answer is to have the feds in control. What's the one thing the U S Constitution requires, but is routinely ignored by pols in Washington and ALWAYS ignored by libs? Limited Central Planners! Libs like the ever-senile Harry call this anarchy. Libs like Billary call this just another distraction. Freedom lovers, those who value the country as it is SUPPOSED to be call it scary as hell! Why would ANYONE want the central planners in control of things like secure access to websites & private information? Where does the least trustworthy group of people reside? Where does the group with the biggest mouths, the most proven track record of leaking confidential information reside? Who is it that refuses to tell us what they are required to tell us, hiding behind 'national security' lies? Who is it that says tracking every single phone call, text, email without warrant, as required BY LAW, is not just legal but safe? That's right every lib pol in Washington and too many other pols. Meaning a majority of pols in Washington are the least trustworthy group of people outside of Alcatraz! When Washington decides they want to take over this aspect of private business, I'll find a way around that also. I refuse to provide Washington with more control than they deserve and/or can handle. They have already exceeded their limit, both by law and by common sense standards.
What's the one thing MOST missing in the lib 'mind'? That's right, common sense. Kill babies right up to delivery but force me to wait 3 days to refinance my mortgage. A choice that I want to make, that will save me money, I'm prevented BY LAW to make the decision on my own; the feds MUST get between me & my banker. But when it comes to killing a baby, NO ONE should ever get between the doctor and the killing. Not even to say there should be a period of time for the woman to consider her decision and be sure that killing the baby is what she really wants to do. Financial decision, government intervention. Killing babies, feds MUST stay out of the way. Storing passwords, prevented by the individual by central planner decree. Staying safe in my own web browsing, prevented! Why would I accept this farce?
