[ale] evernote security breach

Ron Frazier (ALE) atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com
Mon Mar 4 15:25:01 EST 2013


Hi all,

As a result of this fiasco, I decided to change some of my passwords for 
sensitive sites to the max # of random alphanumeric characters that they 
allow.

I thought I'd pass along my hall of fame / hall of shame results for the 
ones I tinkered with.  I have many more sites in my password database 
that I didn't bother.  Most of the less sensitive ones have a 15 
character random alphanumeric password.  Some of the sites that should 
have the best passwords are only mediocre or bad.

In the case of Lastpass, it tries to recognize when you change a website 
password.  It doesn't always work.  It saves a record in the database 
under "generated password for ...".  Make sure you don't delete this 
until you've verified that you can still log into the site.  Sometimes 
you have to copy the generated password from the "generated" entry in 
the database to the "site" entry.

Hall of Fame:

These sites allowed me to use 64 character passwords.  I didn't try 
anything larger.

1and1 (ISP) - 64 char, no maximum specified
Amazon - 64 char, no maximum specified
Bank of the Ozarks - 64 character, no maximum specified
Evernote - 64 char max

Hall of OK but probably good enough:

TurboTax - 32 char max
Paypal - 20 char max plus 2nd factor authentication "football" token
Suntrust Bank - 20 char max

Hall of Shame:

Home Depot - 12 char max
Walmart - 11 char max
web portal of a major government lab - 8 CHAR MAX !!!

By the way, does anyone know of a 2nd factor authentication gadget that 
will work for almost all sites, or do I have to have a separate "factor" 
gadget for every one?

Sincerely,

Ron


On 3/4/2013 1:33 PM, Richard Bronosky wrote:
> I use XKCD passwords http://xkcd.com/936/
>
> I've been pleasantly surprised to find most of the services I care 
> about don't complain about my 30+ character passwords. I really wish 
> they would be smarter about entropy measurement rather than just 
> insisting on some stupid rules be satisfied.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Michael H. Warfield <mhw at wittsend.com 
> <mailto:mhw at wittsend.com>> wrote:
>
>     On Mon, 2013-03-04 at 12:38 -0500, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>     >
>     > "Michael H. Warfield" <mhw at WittsEnd.com> wrote:
>     >
>     > >On Mon, 2013-03-04 at 09:35 -0500, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>     > >> Hi all,
>     > >
>     > >> I first saw the link to this article on the dc404 mailing
>     list.  If
>     > >you're an evernote user, you need to know about this.
>     > >
>     > >> http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/2/4056704/evernote-password-reset
>     > >
>     > >If you are an Evernote user, you need to change your password.  The
>     > >attackers had access to user-id's and password hashes.  The
>     passwords
>     > >where hashed and salted but simple passwords are still subject to
>     > >off-line brute force and rainbow table attacks.  Change your
>     password
>     > >to
>     > >a good, high complexity, password or passphrase.
>     > >
>
>     > Do you think a 15 character random alphanumeric generated by
>     Lastpass is good enough?  Or, should you go longer if the site
>     will let you?
>
>     That's probably reasonable although my personal preference is for pass
>     phrases.  I take several words (jaberwocky style) and mix in some
>     numbers and punctuation.  Much easier to remember and type (especially
>     on a smart phone) and very much easier to remember.
>
>     I run into more dain-bramaged sites that don't allow punctuation than
>     really limit the length but there are some still out there that
>     haven't
>     gotten the memo and restrict your length to negligently short lengths.
>
>     > >MOST IMPORTANT!  This is NOT mentioned in the article quoted,
>     but...
>     > >If
>     > >you used the same user id (E-Mail address) or similar and the same
>     > >password on other sites, change all of them and use different
>     passwords
>     > >on each.  It is not uncommon for someone to use the same
>     password and
>     > >id
>     > >on different sites.  It is equally not uncommon for attackers
>     to KNOW
>     > >THIS and, once they break your password on one site, to use a
>     common,
>     > >broken, password to attack other sites.  That includes sites
>     with other
>     > >common variations on your user id.
>     > >
>     >
>     > I've known this for some time, but only recently went to the
>     trouble to do it, after Linkedin had their break in.  I'm now
>     using Lastpass, which is a good way to keep track of many
>     different passwords for different sites.  (I know there are other
>     solutions too.)  It was a major pain to go to every site I had and
>     go through the password change procedure, especially because, for
>     the ones that were already different, I had to look them up.
>      However, every one is now different and random.  Every time I
>     generate a new password for a new site, or change one on an old
>     site, I let Lastpass handle it.  The password vault is secured by
>     a master password that you don't give out online.  If anyone is
>     interested, I can post my recommended settings for Lastpass
>     preferences.  You can use the service for free on PC's, but have
>     to pay a modest fee for Premium service to use on mobile devices.
>      I pay the fee, and am glad to support their continued development.
>     >
>     > >> Sincerely,
>     > >
>     > >> Ron
>     > >
>     > >Regards,
>     > >Mike
>     > >
>     > >
>     > >--
>     > >Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132
>     <tel:%28770%29%20985-6132> |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
>     > >/\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932
>     <tel:%28678%29%20463-0932> |
>     > >http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
>     > >NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the
>     best of
>     > >all
>     > >PGP Key: 0x674627FF        | possible worlds.  A pessimist is
>     sure of
>     > >it!
>     > >
>     > >
>     > >
>     >
>     > --
>     >
>     > Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard
>     and K-9 Mail.
>     > Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch
>     screen.
>     >
>     > (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might
>     want to
>     > call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from
>     alternate energy
>     > mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages
>     very quickly.)
>     >
>     > Ron Frazier
>     > 770-205-9422 <tel:770-205-9422> (O)   Leave a message.
>     > linuxdude AT techstarship.com <http://techstarship.com>
>     >
>     >
>
>     --
>     Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132
>     <tel:%28770%29%20985-6132> |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
>        /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932
>     <tel:%28678%29%20463-0932> | http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
>        NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the
>     best of all
>      PGP Key: 0x674627FF        | possible worlds.  A pessimist is
>     sure of it!
>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> .!# RichardBronosky #!.

-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com

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