Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Weak passwords to blame for Australian Defence Force Academy hack

Security expert says some student and staff login passwords were stored in plain text

The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) has been slammed by an Australian security expert for using “weak” passwords stored in plain text which were stolen by a hacker known as Darwinare in November.

Sophos Asia Pacific head of technology Paul Ducklin said in a blog post that the hack, which saw a number of SQL database records containing student and staff identification details posted online, shouldn’t have happened and there could be “no excuses”.

Security threats explained: Internal negligence

Social engineering, big data top security priorities for 2013

Privacy Commissioner condemns RailCorp over USB drive auction

Students at ADFA apply to the Defence Force and to the University of New South Wales (UNSW), which runs the academic side of ADFA's operations in Canberra.

While Ducklin praised the UNSW for acting quickly and notifying students/staff a day after the breach occurred, he scolded the University for storing usernames and passwords for at least one of its computer systems in plain text.

“To be fair, these passwords were meant just for initial login, and were therefore expected to have a short life. But passwords should never be weak or guessable, or, for that matter, stored in plain text.”

He said the algorithm for generating the passwords was like a “time warp” back into the 1970s because all of the passwords were seven and eight lower-case letters long.

“Many of these passwords are repeated and all are meant to be pronounceable -- surely an unnecessary step for a password that is intended to be typed in once and then changed -- which leads to a conspicuous lack of randomness.”

For example, Ducklin pointed out that 1 per cent of the passwords end in the word 'poo' which made the passwords “sadly self-descriptive”.

He warned companies to harden their Web services and bring password handling into the 21st Century to avoid compromises like the ADFA incident.

Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick

Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU, or take part in the Computerworld conversation on LinkedIn: Computerworld Australia

Recommended

  1. eBay bids on big data challenge

  2. The pros and cons of IT offshoring

  3. Tapping into social experience: Tourism Australia

    CMO

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

References show all
Comments are now closed.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: password security, Australian Defence Force Academy, Sophos Paul Ducklin, algorithms, hacking
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Hybrid IT Service Management: A Requirement for Virtualisation and Cloud Computing
    When competition is tough and resources are limited, corporate leaders are depending on growing their existing capabilities in order to grow their business. Information technology can be a unique catalyst for business growth, delivering a competitive advantage when creatively applied to established and emerging problems. Read more on what trends are accelerating the value of IT.
    Learn more »
  • Clearing the Clouds for Midmarket Businesses
    Cloud computing promises to help midmarket companies reduce cost and complexity in the IT equation – and gain the flexibility and agility they need to thrive. Yet charting a clear course to the cloud isn’t always easy. In this paper, we aim to clear the clouds. We examine different cloud computing models, discuss the types of requirements that each can best address, and consider what midmarket businesses should look for in a cloud solutions provider.
    Learn more »
  • Mobility Apps: What every developer should know
    Learn how others have delivered industry-leading, multi-platform management and security solutions. In this whitepaper, we look how app developers can develop, deploy and manage apps that enterprises can rely on today and into the future. Click to download!
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments

Computerworld
ARN
CFO World
CMO