As hacking becomes increasingly prevalent throughout government agencies and Internet sites like Google and Facebook, the World Wide Web remains a battleground for groups like LulzSec, AntiSec, and Anonymous to conspire, making their so-called statement of rebellion.
In retrospect, most of the time the hackers’ crimes are easily detected, but the fact they can so easily obtain usernames and passwords on a small scale, only means that soon groups are going to reach the point where they can obtain usernames and passwords on a larger scale— hacking entire sites’ databases of usernames and passwords.
The solution? Ridding passwords altogether from our systems.
The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace proposes a new vision on the use of usernames and passwords: the Identity Ecosystem. The Identity Ecosystem is a new approach on how we use and view the internet,creating an online environment where individuals and organizations are surfing the net based on a mutual trust and authenticate their online identity.
The Identity Ecosystem does not just focus on one plain technology, but rather multiple technologies. So based on the type of technology at use, whether it is cell phones or laptop computers, there would be an assigned strategy. For example, one idea is instead of remembering a bunch of different passwords, users would be assigned one Smart Card from their ISP to ensure their identity, acting as a set of keys.
So until password glitches work themselves out, people are advised to change their passwords often, especially those who are guilty of using the same password for every site. Google has already taken the first step with their advanced sign-in, two-step security for their accounts, but the government will be hard at work to provide a solution for the looseness of identity information on the web.
(via Gizmodo, photo via The New Yorker)
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