Password
A password is a confidential, often arbitrary, and unspaced sequence of characters entered by a computer user to verify his or her identity when attempting to log onto restrictive (or "locked") computer software, such as systems, programs, files, and Web browsers. It is similar to the secret code that a banking customer uses to gain access to an automatic teller machine (ATM).
Passwords are instituted as a security device in order to restrict access to only authorized users of private and/or sensitive software. Within these secured pieces of computer software, the prospective user first encounters some type of a password-protection program that compares a user ID (some unique identification) and a password with a stored list of authorized codes for that particular user. (A password protection program employs the use of passwords as a means of allowing only authorized users access to computer software.) If the user ID and password are legitimate, the system authenticates the user's entry and allows the now authorized user access to only that particular software at a pre-approved security level. To prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to software by random luck, most password protection systems restrict the number of attempts that a user has to input a correct password. The password is normally a combination of alphabetic, numeric, and punctuation (or other similar characters). A possible password is to use a mnemonic device (something that is easy to remember but has no significance to the general population) followed by a series of numbers that has some relevance to the user. For example, a computer user might combine the first letter from each word of the sentence "My cat is named Tinker Bell" with the user's birthday ("May 14th, 1953") to produce "McinTB531405" as the user's password.
A password is typically between four and 16 characters, depending on how the computer system is set up. Most users create passwords that are difficult to guess in order to maintain a level of security against computer "hackers" who try to gain access to restricted information. Unfortunately, many people choose a password that is easy to remember, such as their name or their initials. This is one reason why it is sometimes easy to break into computer software. It is, therefore, recommended not to use words that are: (1) easily guessed (i.e., social security number, birthday, or maiden name), (2) found in the dictionary, (3) currently newsworthy or historically relevant, (4) similar to a previous password, (5) only letters, and (6) difficult to remember. In fact, some people, called "crackers," write programs in order to discover passwords by using lists of commonly chosen passwords such as last names spelled forwards and backwards. To protect against such dishonest practices passwords should optimally be a mixture of upper and lower case letters or digits that avoid proper names and real words.
Four major threats to computer information are countered with the help of passwords: (1) theft of data, such as military secrets from government computers; (2) vandalism, including the destruction of data from computer viruses; (3) fraud, such as employees at financial institutions switching monies into special accounts; and (4) invasion of privacy, such as the illegal accessing of protected personal (e.g., medical and financial) data from large databases. The primary use of passwords for computer system administrators is to electronically track and record the access to, and activities of, the various users of their computer system in order to maintain the highest level of security within that software.
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