TVPast Forums - Warning: Is Your Email Account Password Safe?

Take this as a warning!

Most people tend to end up "banned" (accounts locked) from this site because their email address is hacked. Eventually the email gets disabled by the host/ISP for spamming, or it fills up with bounce messages.

Use a complex non-word password like BY$03jew!1ee. For example, this could be about your daughter Julie (jew!1ee), whose birth year was 2003 (BY$03). Even gibberish can be meaningful.

Never use a word-based password like fluffybunny25. Find something that's both complex (non-dictionary), and means something to you -- and CANNOT be guessed by others (including cracking software).

Something like trustno1 and ncc1701d is also horrible -- anything with pop culture references is as bad as a dictionary word.

Basic 1337-speak number swapping on words, like marv3lc0m1cs, is also worthless.

Brute force hacker software can guess Hotmail/Live/Outlook, Yahoo, Gmail, and AOL accounts with non-complex passwords. That would also apply to various ISPs (like AT&T DSL) that utilize email services from those large mail providers.

Check Known Hack Databases!

Most hackers love to brag about their exploits, and will give away whatever data was stolen. Some will sell information on various underground markets. These password lists have been acquired and aggregated by several organizations, and you can insert your email address to check against those collected lists.

Visit https://shouldichangemypassword.com

Just remember that NOT being on one of those lists does NOT mean you're safe. It just means that you're not in a known list acquired by the site. If your password sucks, change it before it's too late.