The worst passwords of 2020 have been revealed, supporting even further evidence that we need to move to a decentralised system rather than relying on outdated methods. Among the list of the 200 worst passwords were numerical combinations, while some old classics stayed at the top, including “password”. According to the latest data, more than 4.5 million users favour these passwords, and many of them could be cracked in less than a second. A new entry to the list was picture1, which took third place.
More than four in 10 people clicked on a phishing link via ‘LinkedIn’ during Q3, says a new report. Data presented by the Atlas VPN team says that emails impersonating LinkedIn had a 47% open rate. Misleading subject lines were the biggest cause for concern, using keywords like “LinkedIn” to dupe customers. The scammers were using language such as “you were tagged in this photo on Facebook” to target people through various social networks, but LinkedIn scams were clicked most often.
Microsoft has warned consumers that Russian and North Korean hackers have broken into the online systems of companies developing coronavirus vaccines. Microsoft protects 195 healthcare organisations at present and says that three ‘known hacking groups’ are involved. While the majority of attacks were unsuccessful, Microsoft says governments must work harder to keep personal data safe.
Social media giant Twitter has been in the headlines recently, notably for censoring a number of Donald Trump’s tweets to stop the spread of misinformation. But prior to the election result, one researcher claimed he was able to guess the president’s password, which was allegedly “maga2020!”. Victor Gevers also claimed he’d managed to gain access in 2016, and that it only took five attempts to gain access. Twitter has since denied the reports.
The release of the latest Nintendo Super Mario game was marred by hacking reports, giving new players a cause for concern. Some players were able to get an early copy of the game, and used this opportunity to find vulnerabilities in the system. Hackers even took the hardware apart and posted their findings on Twitter, with issues noted on settings such as languages.
Twitter has employed a known hacker to review its security policies. Peiter Zatko, known by his hacker name ‘Mudge’ was hired to tackle issues such as engineering problems and misinformation. He will undergo a 45 to 60-day review to recommend changes. Zatko has previously worked at electronic payments provider Stripe, and also for the Pentagon. The ‘white hat hacker’ will aim to prevent hacks such as those which affected Barack Obama – who was in targeted by ‘bitcoin hackers’.
