Passwords are a king-size pain in the rear. I always worry about them, especially when it comes to online banking.  A big part of the problem is that I have a brain like a sieve. I’d love to use the one easy password I never forget, but of course, that would never do.

So I have strange and difficult words for my bank accounts, plus one of those token thingies that generate a random number for you to type in - and the bank always knows what it is at the other end. Amazing.

But a study of millions of internet accounts, done a couple of months ago, has revealed the top ten most common online passwords. The report was put together by security experts, Imperva, after a major vulnerability was discovered in Rockyou.com.A hacker posted 32 million passwords on the internet, and that large amount of data gave security specialists an insight into commonly used words and phrases.

The ten most commonly used passwords were: (are you ready?)

1. 123456

2. 12345

3. 123456789

4. Password

5. iloveyou

6. princess

7. rockyou *

8. 1234567

9. 12345678

10. abc123

Bruce Schneier from Imperva said users should improve security by using a sentence. “Take a sentence and turn it into a password,” he said. “Something like ‘This little piggy went to market’ might become “tlpWENT2m”.”

He also advised people to use a different password for all sites. [This one totally slays me. Good grief! I’m flat out remembering the few I do have.]

Imperva recommends that passwords contain at least eight letters, with a mix of upper case, lower case, special characters and numbers.

The experts added that a combination of poor passwords and automated attacks means that in just 110 attempts, a hacker could gain access to one new account on every second.

Scary, innit? I know I’m not any too brilliant with passwords, but I have done better than 123456.  What about you? Are you conscientious or do you use the name of your child/dog/cat/favourite comic book character? And for Pete’s sake, don’t tell us what it is, right?

 It’s newsletter time, which means…

Rackety Kate and the Pirates

Chapter 28

Firm Hands

The story so far:
To Kate’s astonished relief, the Hormone Harlots step in and take control of the entire situation. In fact, they seem to wield an extraordinary degree of control over the wicked Comte de Nothos. Talk about a firm hand!

You can read all of Kate here – http://www.deniserossetti.com

Kate gripped the phone so hard, the plastic creaked. Her head spun. “Jack,” she croaked at the Hormone Harlots. “Jack’s in my office, he’s—”

Ess turned her pretty head. “Do you trust us, Kate?”

Gulping, Kate nodded.

“This won’t take long.” She shot a sideways glance at the Comte’s pale, brutally handsome face and sighed. “Unless we’ve miscalculated. It’ll all be fine, I promise. Tell them you’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

“I’m with…with the client, Shazelle,” said Kate into the phone. “Just finishing him off. I mean— Hell, say to Mr Cavanagh, another half hour, okay? Don’t let him leave.”

“I’ll try,” said Shazelle doubtfully. “Hope you know what you’re doing, Kate.” She rang off.

Tess’s grin it looked a little ragged ’round the edges. “So we’re cool. We got our witness. Do it,” she said to her sister.

Ess pushed a stray wisp of hair off her forehead. Her fingers trembled.

What the—?

The Comte frowned down at her, his dark brows knitted.

***

Want more? You can read all of Kate and see more pirates on the Rackety Kate page. Want even more than that? Join my newsletter - see below.

Erica Hayes, fabulous new Australian urban paranormal writer is celebrating the release of her second novel,  Shadowglass, with an incredible giveaway. Five fantasy/paranormals by five Australian authors! Including me. *ahem*

Erica’s giving away a copy of Thief of Light - plus a book each from Nalini Singh, Keri Arthur, Tracey O’Hara - and of course, her own Shadowglass.

All you have to do is visit Erica’s blog page and leave a comment. Ends Saturday 9th March. What could be simpler?

Go for it!

Erica’s blog