Cybersecurity expert Alexey Severin warns: Simple passwords can be cracked by fraudsters in a matter of seconds.
Alexey Severin, a lecturer at the “Information Security” department of Bauman Moscow State Technical University, revealed in an interview with RT which passwords are the least reliable and pose significant risks to personal data.
He explained that choosing easily guessed combinations, such as `123456` or names of relatives, makes personal data highly vulnerable. Such passwords can be compromised by malicious actors in just a few seconds. Severin also mentioned the `brute-force` method — a `trial-and-error` attack where hackers use specialized software to iterate through a vast number of combinations from databases of commonly used passwords, seeking to gain unauthorized access.
To ensure robust security, Severin strongly recommends using password managers. These intelligent programs securely store confidential information in an encrypted form, protected by a single, strong master password. Crucially, they can also generate complex, random combinations for each of your accounts, significantly enhancing your online safety by making it incredibly difficult for cybercriminals to guess or crack your access credentials.
In a separate incident highlighting the pervasive nature of online fraud, an elderly woman in St. Petersburg fell victim to fraudsters who impersonated the renowned German opera singer Jonas Kaufmann. Realizing the deception after a period, she promptly reported the incident to the police, initiating an investigation into the matter.
