Here's an end-of-week musing for you all. Did anyone happen to see last night’s episode of The Office? (Yes, I watch television, and I’m not afraid to admit it!)
If you did, then the intro illustrated one of the most common security faux-pas out there. In the opening scene the electricity goes out, and after a brief period, during which power is restored, each employee gets a pop up on their monitor informing them that the server is down, and a password must be entered.
Now, all of you security pros out there will be relieved to know that the password was, indeed, not “password”. However, it took the entire staff a total of about one minute to work through the list of former IT people who may have set the password, and some likely candidates for what it might be.
Needless to say, without having ever been given the password, the staff were able to crack it with little problem. You can watch the video on the NBC website.
Knowing what many of us know about security, Michael Scott’s comment toward the end of the scene was priceless: “The important thing is, this kept us secure people.”
Just thought this would be an entertaining way to demonstrate the need for strong passwords in your own organizations.