What is a good password?

A good password is one that is sufficient to keep others out.  Unfortunately what we’ve been doing in the past is no longer sufficient to combat the modern hacker.  Our old password habits include:

• Short passwords can be hacked in seconds
• Passwords that are made up from guessable words like our kids names, etc.
• Even seemingly complex passwords made from special characters and numbers can be hacked in seconds or minutes now.

How would you know if your username and password have been hacked?

In recent times there have been a rash of email phishing scams that go something like this:

• They claim they have hacked you personally and have your username and password
• They show you the password to add validity to the claim and get your attention (which it certainly does)
• They say they have used your computer to record some form of bad behavior (adult or illegal websites, etc,)
• They threaten that they will make this behavior public if your don’t pay them
• They ask for some large amount of money in Bitcoins

Let me be clear – this is a scam.  Don’t pay them or even bother to communicate with them.  Throw out the emails.

But how did they get your username and password?