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I am thinking about getting ICQ but am a bit worried about password strenth I think the maximium password lenth ICQ allows is 6 or 8 digits long.Now it doesent matter what password I select,My password will not be secure and will be suspect to brute force attacks,correct ?
~RedAlert
Some one please correct me if i'm wrong?
Lets say the password is 8 Characters long...
Num_V_Chars = Number of valid characters allowed (including Upper/Lower Cases)
So in theory there should be this many combinations...
Num_V_Chars^8?
if Num_V_Chars = 250 then combinations = (250^8)
250^8 = 1.525879E+19
Sorry I dont understand that:(,But what your saying is it is pretty insecure... ?
1.525879E+19 is a very big number!!!
it is unlikely that one would actually spend the time to crack your icq password.
i'd recomend using a random password (ie- "KJn87UGs")
This will at least protect you from someone who is using a Dictionary Brute Force Attack <(this is where they try every word in the dictionary file.)>
yes as you dont have to log onto icq every time you can set it as some random password and just keep it in a safe place.
and 1.5E+19 is 1500000000000000000 to 1 isnt it? (very big lol)
Okay, one other tip... Use your real e-mail when signing up for ICQ. If you use a bogus email like [email protected], Maybe I'll just go register eatmyshorts at hotmail and go thru the password recovery for your password. So use your real email.
The security problem with icq is that it uses a known port (read doorway to your computer) if anyone is going to hack you they will know that port and monitor it. Though don't panic as given the amount of users the numerical possibility isn't high. I'm not a maths wizard so I can't give you the odds. Install a firewall, though I'm no expert on firewalls I'm sure others here will be better placed to advise you on that score.
Just some additional info.
Your icq-password is stored in your local .dat file in your icq directory. This can be fetched out into clear text with tools located on this site. So if you worry about someone getting your password - hang tight to your dat-file.
xmaddness > I have personally experimented another saspect of your suggestion. I lost one of my ICQ accounts because someone brute forced it and , as I gave a false e-mail address, I wasn't able to make the site to send me the new password in order to change it (and to cut the ground under the cracker's feet).
But I suggest you to not use your principal e-mail adress, the best solution is to create an e-mail adress which will redirect your mails towards your principal adress.
That's a good tip xmaddness. You know, I never really thought of it that way. However, I just so happen to use real addresses when registering for things. I have several different internet email accounts specifically for that purpose. It works great.Quote:
Originally posted here by xmaddness
Okay, one other tip... Use your real e-mail when signing up for ICQ. If you use a bogus email like [email protected], Maybe I'll just go register eatmyshorts at hotmail and go thru the password recovery for your password. So use your real email.