Will a Dictionary Attack Find Your Password?
January 26, 2011
As a personal objection to the whole password problem, many people use a word that’s easy to remember. The most common words used, according to some security experts are “password” and “password1.” Some people use a common date.
These are no match for a dictionary attack.
A dictionary attack uses a targeted technique of successively trying all the words in an exhaustive list called a dictionary (from a pre-arranged list of values). Automated password-cracking tools can check more than a million password variations.
Passwords composed of random strings of upper and lower case letters, numbers and punctuation can usually withstand an attack, but they are hard to remember.
Some tactics that will create a difficult-to-break password that is easy to remember include:
* Two words connected by a number can withstand many attacks.
* Take the first letter of each word in a phrase and add a number or symbol and a capital letter. For “You have no chance”: Yhnc#72.
There is also a variant of the Dictionary Attack, called Hybrid Dictionary Attack that increases the probability of success. In this case, the password cracker checks all words in the dictionary along with its variations. These can be, for example, the same words with different digits added to them. Hybrid Dictionary Attack is noticeably slower than Dictionary Attack. If the variations include words with two digits appended to them, then the process is 100 times slower. In case of 4 digits appended, it can be 10,000 times slower.
To-Do List Review: Were Your Comments Positive or Negative
January 23, 2011
There are people who keep their to-do lists in a notebook, others use post-it notes or web-based tools such as Remember the Milk or Evernote. At the end of each week, they can look at it and be excited about their successes and aggravated by their procrastinations.
Here’s another idea: At the end of the week, think back on the words you have spoken to business partners, clients and people who work with you. Hopefully, you won’t have much trouble remembering various conversations.
On the plus side, you may think of your words of encouragement, those that made people feel uplifted, and words that made them be engaged and cooperative.
Your second list won’t be as nice. Stop to think of words that might have been harmful or negative. Did you say something that made someone feel ashamed if they overheard your remarks? Did you criticize people rather than the jobs they did?
The power of carefully chosen words can build trust and create the kind of collaborative environment where people want to contribute their very best.
Business Communications: Email, Text or Phone Call?
January 19, 2011
From texting to video to social networking and reading books, mobile phones are taking an ever-expanding role in our daily lives. And young people around the globe are more immersed in mobile technology than ever.
What do baby boomers prefer when it comes to business communications?
The Nielsen Company says that adults in the 45 to 54 age group in general made fewer mobile phone calls in 2010 than in 2009. The study was conducted for The Wall Street Journal. Study subjects on average made 188 mobile phone calls a month. At the same time, people from ages 45 to 54 sent and received 323 texts a month in the second quarter of 2010, up 75% from a year ago, Nielsen says.
Text messages take up less time than phone calls, so is this good news?
On the flip side, a text’s content is so condensed that it routinely fails, even more than email, to give enough information. The receiver has no idea of the sender’s tone and affect. In addition, the text abbreviations can be easily misunderstood by the person receiving the message. Texting’s rise over conversation is changing the way we interact, social scientists and researchers say. We default to text to relay difficult information. So should we assume mobile phone users needed to convey more difficult information in 2010 than in 2009 or are our ways of interacting changing across the board?
Research shows that businesses have overwhelmingly adopted email as a preferred form of daily communication. Email, even short messages are preferable to texting for communicating concepts. Texting is useful for making connections such as checking imminent meeting times or places, for example.
Texting should never replace email or the phone for important communications. When we default to texting for a business message, there is a danger that the recipient will not understand, especially if a wrong key is thumbed.
Texters often say they don’t want to engage in small talk, but at the same time, a moment or two of small talk can improve a relationship with the other party. Turns out actual dealmakers still spend much of the day on the phone. In addition, The Economist states that “reports of the death of the phone call are greatly exaggerated”.
How to Become Indispensable in 2011?
January 18, 2011
Critics say that Linchpin is Seth Godin’s most passionate book and I definitely have to agree. First, he reveals that “there are no longer any great jobs where someone else tells you precisely what to do.” Linchpins who hold great jobs don’t just follow orders, they add creativity, innovation and value and thus, create art.
Seth tells how to free people around us so they can become artists, which means creators of unique, compelling and substantial value. It does not matter what these individuals do for living, it is the attitude that matters. Linchpin’s drive and passion make it possible to create art every day.
If people can become artists, “they will rise to a level you can’t even imagine. When people realize that they are not a cog in a machine, an easily replaceable commodity, they take the challenge and grow. They produce more than you pay them to, because you are paying them with something worth more than money …” People crave connection and respect.
As an individual, “You can’t become a linchpin merely because you are different. The only way to become indispensable is to be different,” says Godin. “That’s because if you’re the same, so are
plenty of other people.”
One reviewer says the chapter titled “The Resistance” is worth the price of the book. Readers are
faced with all the reasons they are not as indispensable as they could and should be.
Linchpin is a most unusual, thought-provoking and concise book about becoming indispensable,
whether you work for someone else at any level or are self-employed. Godin’s principles can be
applied to other aspects of life. Linchpins can be better spouses, friends and community members.
They can be indispensable in many ways.
Godin says that if you want customers to flock to you, it’s tempting to race to the bottom of the price chart. There’s plenty of room there, but the only way to win is to race to the top. If you are more human, remarkable, faster, and connect with customers in 2011, you will win.
Are you indispensable? Do you create art?
