The “inactive” hacker group LulzSec has apparently returned in what some are calling an effort to restore confidence in the group after its leader, Sabu, helped the FBI identify and arrest former teammates. A military dating website was recently hacked by LulzSec Reborn, involving an email dump of 170,000 members. We’re told that this is nothing to worry about, since LulzSec hacks for fun, not malice. But let’s face it: someone unintended having the names, email addresses, and passwords of 170,000 members, many of which have .mil and .gov email addresses isn’t in anyone’s best interest.
Just a few of the issues include uncontrolled access to personal information, reactivation of a prosecuted group of hackers, their relative ease of gaining access to the information, the probability that members whose credentials were stolen probably use identical credentials for other online accounts, and pure creepiness factor that there are people who sit around and hack other peoples’ identity authentication credentials “for the fun of it.”
Alphanumeric passwords are frighteningly vulnerable to identity theft – in the online environment, at ATMs, POS systems, building security, and virtually everywhere they’re used. The fact is, it isn’t hard for someone with less than honorable intentions to steal valuable identity authentication and misuse it. Picture passwords, like those used in Tricerion’s patented system, go far beyond both the security and memorability (thus, usability) of alphanumerics. Add to that our data triangulation that segregates data transmissions, and suddenly our system runs circles around alphanumeric passwords.
The problem isn’t just that hackers were able to get the information – it’s that there are people who do this for entertainment, and for much more malicious purposes. As long as there are people and groups out there who make it their goal to outsmart the systems in place, our systems must continue to evolve ahead of the hackers. What once kept us safe online now seems like a dinosaur that hasn’t realized the ice age has already begun.