Should I Change My Password? • Hacker News Board

Re: Should I Change My Password?

#101

Post by dagrz » Sun, Jun 26, 2011, 5:58 AM UTC

encoderer wrote: post #56

I guess extreme caution is good. But saying to somebody Your email, username, and password have been compromised" strikes me as a little sensational. Granted, the average user doesn't need to know or understand the vagaries of password hashes. But if somebody reads this, they should think "OMFG somebody can login to my email account!" I mean, that's exactly what it says. But there's no legitimate reason to believe th…

There are some leaps that normal users won't make, agreed. It's not an easy problem. Either way I believe that raising awareness in non-techie populations is good.

If you have specific suggestions, I would be happy to discuss them.

Re: Should I Change My Password?

#102

Post by dagrz » Sun, Jun 26, 2011, 6:00 AM UTC

bluehex wrote: post #44

I wish I could query using a hash of my email address. No matter how much their FAQ says they won't use the email for anything but a "single database query" It's hard to trust anyone. Even if this site is legit (I think they probably are) this would be quite the front for a spammer to collect addresses.

Trust is an issue no doubt and to some extent I wish I had partnered with a big security brand. However, the reality is that you give your email address to various parties all the time, and regardless of how malicious they are, they are rarely secure. Your email is already public, imho.

Re: Should I Change My Password?

#103

Post by dagrz » Sun, Jun 26, 2011, 6:02 AM UTC

grimatongueworm wrote: post #89

As a test, I took one of the email addresses from the list of Arizona law enforcement addresses that lulzsec just released ( http://lulzsecurity.com/releases/chinga_la_migra_1.txt ). ShouldIChange site reports no instances of compromised records in it's db.

Yeh there way too many lists of 1-5000 email/passwords available on the web. I'm talking thousands if not tens of thousands. It's just too hard to find and add them all. If you find it hard to think about the website as being a comprehensive answer to password problems, think of it as an awareness raiser in the general public. :)

Re: Should I Change My Password?

#104

Post by jpulgarin » Mon, Jun 27, 2011, 1:28 PM UTC

jplewicke wrote: post #32

It'd be cool if they added an option to subscribe for $10/year for a quick SMS and email notification if your account is compromised. I'd get it for myself and my family.

Thanks for the idea! Over the weekend me and a buddy launched a service that does exactly this. You can see it at www.hacknotifier.com - we'd love any feedback you have.