What’s THE most common password on the Web? For the answer, keep reading.
First, here’s how we know: Last December a hacker stole 32 million passwords and posted them on the Web. Half were purely weak, and the single most common one was . . . drumroll . . . 123456. (Microsoft Windows magazine, Fall 2010)
If you read about the U.S. civil war at the soldier level, as I sometimes do, you’ll often come across the expression “Sign and countersign.” It’s just an editorial convention — nobody ever said it — that represents an actual verbal exchange, an exchange of passwords between soldiers.
Authors use it because they have no idea what the soldiers actually said. After all, real signs and countersigns weren’t something you’d write in a letter to the family. And they changed every day.
Oats o’marra — By your leave my lady. Two ducks and a goose — One if by land. Sign — countersign. In Civil War literature, these mean the same thing.
BTW, contrary to popular belief, codes are not broken — people are, and then they give up codes. So please don’t get too excited about the strength of your passwords.
