Anyone who wants to read this article.

No way, using your birthday or your family's birthday as a password...?

If so, we strongly recommend that you change it immediately.



Currently, there are a series of cases all over the country where Internet service accounts are hijacked due to the “softness” of password management and settings.



However, creating and remembering long passwords can be difficult.

With a little ingenuity, it's easy to remember.


(Digitally fooled reporter / Zhou Yinghuan)

SNS hijacked

What happens if you use your birthday as your password?



This is what happened to a woman in her 20s living in Tokyo in 2020.



The woman used to use the SNS “Instagram” on a regular basis, but she used her birthday and name as her password.

I tried to log in as usual, but for some reason I can't.



One day, I received a call from the company that operates the SNS saying, "There may have been unauthorized access."

My account had been hijacked and my password had been changed.



When the Metropolitan Police Department investigated, it was also found that messages were sent without permission from a woman's account.

In addition to the content of the message, the woman had her personal information stolen.

In addition, other women were also affected in the same way.



So, why was the account that only the person who was supposed to be able to log in was hijacked?



My password was cracked because I knew my "name" and "birthday" from the account name and the contents of the post.

Accumulated points are illegal...

Another case.

A woman in her thirties from Saitama Prefecture had her Internet service account hijacked because she used the same password over and over again.



In July 2022, the account of the membership site of a major drug store was hijacked, and the accumulated points were used illegally.

Just before this, the company's website had been illegally accessed by what appeared to be a "list-type attack" that attempted to log in by exploiting IDs leaked from other sites.



The woman was using the same password for other sites, so she is believed to have had her account hijacked.

Nearly half take advantage of "sweetness"

According to the National Police Agency, from January to June 2022, 217 cases were arrested for unauthorized access by stealing other people's IDs and passwords.


Of these, the most common method was “acquisition by taking advantage of lax password setting and management,” with 100 cases (46.1%).

The requirements for a secure password are

If you have “sweet” passwords, you need to take action now.

What exactly is a “soft” password?



According to the Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA), the conditions for a "secure password" are "complex," "long," and "not reused."



Include at least 10 digits, include uppercase and lowercase letters, and include numbers and symbols.

Do not use anything that can be easily guessed, such as your name or date of birth.

long and complicated password what to do

That said, remembering long and complex passwords for different services can be difficult.

There are configuration tips recommended by IPA.



First, create and remember a “base” for a long and complex password.

Then, add a short string to the end of each service.

For example, let's say that the "base" of the password is "D@masareNai!".

For site A, add "=1A" to the end of the code, and for site B, add "=2B" to the end of the code.



By saving this "= 1A" and "= 2B" on a computer or notepad, you can prevent you from forgetting and not being able to log in.



In addition to these countermeasures, "password management tools", in which computers automatically create random passwords, have become widely used in recent years.

Using these tools as needed is one of the countermeasures.



In order to protect your valuable property and privacy, please review your password again.

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