Kill The Password: Article Response

Choman Saleem

                                                Kill The Password Article Response

            Moore’s Law states that for every 16 months, the computation power of central processing units will double. While Moore’s Law ultimately enriches the landscape of computer systems by advancing our technology, there is also a dramatic downside to it. Mat Honan does a fine job specifying how the use of passwords in the computer industry has significantly been sugarcoated. Using a brute force algorithm to crack a password 3 decades ago would have taken an extremely long and unviable time. With contemporary processing power, a hacker can crack simple passwords in a matter of processing cycles.
            There are a number of things that most people do in regards to passwords that I definitely don’t agree with, and Honan goes into detail about similar actions. Password reuse is the act of using the same password for multiple accounts. The consequence to this is that if one account gets compromised, the attack of other accounts with the same password is surely inevitable. There is solid data to show that password reuse is quite dangerous.

            There are many threats against the traditional way passwords are used., but that doesn’t spell the end of passwords. There are password cracking programs like John the Ripper to crack passwords. Despite the numerous ways to get into unauthorized accounts, I don’t think the password will be going away any time soon. While Mat Honan does a fine job giving numerous reasons why passwords fail, he doesn’t suggest a strong alternative. The general consensus about passwords is that they’re now vulnerable to getting cracked. However, I believe with strong multifactor authentication such as Google’s, passwords can still remain strong and provide defense for our accounts. I have personally never gotten hacked or gotten damaging malware. I may be one of the lucky ones, but at the same time, I have educated myself about passwords and security; I have taken the steps to protect my systems and accounts.  While Mat Honan makes valid arguments, I believe the traditional password is still the best practical line of defense we have for our accounts. Until a more practical solution surfaces, passwords will still remain as the dominant method for protecting our accounts.

Article Link:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/ff-mat-honan-password-hacker/all/