Only 450,000 passwords snagged. Not a big deal, really.

Yahoo's password leak: What you need to know (FAQ) | Security & Privacy - CNET News

My Yahoo account got hacked about a year and a half ago. Once I changed the password and made it about 20 characters long..........I kinda did a version of Scrabble in setting my new password using numbers, letters and symbols. Did the same with another email account, no not the same password as my Yahoo account, haven't had an issue thus far with either. Good luck to anyone trying to figure them out, they look like an encryption code for WiFi.

With the way hackers are working these days, it doesn't matter if it's encrypted or not. Saw a story in a UK paper talking of how hackers are stealing money from banks with some serious encryption and security in place. They manage to infect 1 workers' computer then wait for them to login, all the info is sent right to the hacker and they usually have about a minute max if the security is tight to log back in and proceed to do a money transfer before all the encryption codes change.

Good move setting up your new passwords that way. I use Lastpass and before that I used Roboform. Any day now, really, any day now lol I'm going to change all my passwords to ones created by Lastpass. They'll look like Wifi encryption codes too.

The thing about passwords getting stolen that bugs me isn't that the hackers can get in. That does bug me but people that are very smart like the programmers at Google matter of factly say there's no way to keep them out, all they can do is make it harder for them. Ok, make it harder then.

So if that's the kind of cyberworld we live in, then let's not leave valuable stuff laying around for when the inevitable hacks happen. Hey Yahoo, ya think hackers might know how to read a txt file? lol Properly encrypted files cannot be broken into using "brute force" algorithms, at least not without hundreds and thousands of computers.

Breaking individual passwords is often easy though. The classic in my mind was Sarah Palin's email. The "lost password" question on her account was "In what city did you meet your husband or wife?". It wasn't rocket science when the guy who hacked her account tried Wasilla.

And your right, if all you can do is make it a little bit harder to get in.........then do it, make it harder to get in. Add another layer or two to your security. It's nothing but a game of cat and mouse, it's not much of a game if you don't make it harder each time a breach happens. If I saw that company "A" got breached on the evening news, I would be calling up my IT Security people and getting them to add some more layers post haste. Don't acknowledge that all you can do is make it harder to keep them out then stand pat and do nothing until a breach happens.

As for leaving important info laying around, it happens everyday in society. How many vehicles are "broken into" by thieves who steal the iPad laying on the back seat or the GPS in the window? I say "broken into" because so many people simply don't lock their vehicle. At least lock the vehicle, make it harder for a thief to get in, some won't even attempt to break in because they may make too much noise. That said, don't leave valuable items out in plain sight. I was at the county courthouse Friday, last place some people would think a thief would break into a vehicle, I took my cellphone and power cable for it and placed them under my seat out of sight. In my brain it's the best place to break in and swipe some goodies, nobody would suspect it would take place there. Last thing I need is someone knowing the power cord goes to an iPhone and breaking in to see if the phone happens to be there since cellphones aren't allowed in the courthouse.

Ever post something to see if it gets a response? No, that's not quite right. Ever post something that you know won't get a response but in some perverse way you'd like to see your suspicions confirmed? It's a form of self-mutilation I think.

I started this thread last week and only 37 people have viewed it and you're the only one that's responded to it (and maybe that was out of pity lol). They used to call us the "silent" majority. Now we're the "bend over for the corporations and just keep taking it" majority.

I have a prediction for ya. Shoes in the not too distant future will come in S, M, L and XL. Screw what it does to people's feet. Corporations making greater and greater profits is all that matters and it wastes money to stock so many sizes.

Yahoo could have setup up a program where user passwords were encrypted to the 9s with just a chosen few people knowing the password and it was simply too much trouble and would adversely affect the bottom line in an infinitesimal way. Why should they bother? We've shown them (the corporations) that they can treat us however they please and we'll just take it.

Well this isn't exactly a group of computer nerds here

You know, speaking of the shoe deal, I was disappointed to walk into Wal-Mart to get some work boots, all they came in was Size Wide. I don't have a wide foot but that was all I could buy there, take it or leave it. Needless to say the sides are falling apart/blowing open because my normal size foot doesn't take up enough space inside to keep everything in line. I then went to another Wal-Mart about 6 months later looking for cross-trainers on the cheap, again all that was carried was Size Wide's............what's hard for me is that I have 1 foot which is slightly longer than the other. So either I get a foot that is cramped or I get a shoe that is very loose.

Ahhhhh, you see my reasoning. Start with the fact that underwear (at least at Walmart) is no longer sized 34 or 36 or 38 etc, now they combine sizes so it might be 34 - 36. Add to that, pocket T-shirts. I used to be able to choose from zillions of different colors. Now both Hanes and Fruit Of The Loom have 4-packs, with dreadful colors. The wide shoe size... I've been noticing that too which has gotten me to thinking that they do that because that way they only have to stock 1/3 as many shoes. Not narrow, regular and wide. If they just stock wide, they're good to go. If it ruins people's feet, who cares?

So from all that, I predict S, M, L and XL shoes in the near future. (I left out the part where Fox News somehow waves the flag and makes it our patriotic duty to support American Corporations in their time of need) lol