Password-hacking More Common than You, or Palin, May Think

The apparent ease with which Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had her Yahoo email account hacked may not be surprising to those following technology security - - as password-based attacks on Internet accounts and networks continue to be part of the fabric of the Web's black hat culture.

Wired is reporting that the FBI and Secret Service have begun coordinating a probe into how the Republican vice presidential nominee's quasi-personal/private email account on Yahoo was compromised and private messages posted on mega blogs including Gawker.com.

Over the past several days, our Test Center has noticed renewed password-based assaults on our trap network. On Wednesday, we witnessed attempts to break into our SQL Server database by what appears to be a random password generator.

According to a report by the Test Center's Fahmida Y. Rashid and Samara Lynn:

The hacking attempt took shots at the database by using passwords like "password," "12345," and "abc123."

The second IP address logged as the source of a SQL hacking attempt traced back to cable giant Time-Warner in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. These attacks took place every second for a full minute -- what appears to have been a hit from a random password generator. The first couple of attempts ran through a number of "a" words: "apple, adam, alpine..." And then, according to our logs, the hacker began guessing passwords beginning with the letter "b," such as "bike," "baldeagle," "batcave" and even "billybob."

The hackers never did find their way into the Test Center's SQL Server database, but it was not for lack of trying.

Once hacking tools - - like random password generators - - make it into the underground marketplace, it's only a matter of time before someone who is enterprising and has a less-than-ethical intention can pay cash for them and start putting them to use.

It's unclear just how Palin's email was compromised, but it's not beyond the imagination to think that password-hacking may have played a key role.

The lesson? Stay one step ahead of the hackers - - and random password generators- - and come up with a system for making your passwords tough to beat.

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