Security flap as Finnish password hashes posted online
Login looting not unlikely
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Hacking pranksters have caused a rumpus in Finland by posting the account and login details of thousands online.
The information - usernames, email addresses, some passwords and many more uncracked password hashes of almost 79,000 user accounts - are largely from different Finnish web forums. By itself that's bad enough, but the possibility that many on the list use the same password for more sensitive online banking accounts and the like creates an even more significant security risk.
Matching the hashes corresponding to weaker passwords on list to their plain text values is straightforward enough using password dictionary tools and the like. So the 4.5MB list could serve up rich pickings for potential fraudsters.
The motives for and methods used in the attack, much less its perps, remains unclear.
Local security firm F-Secure compares the attack to the publication of hundred of passwords to different embassies and government organisation by Swedish hacker Dan Egerstad six weeks ago. Egerstad siphoned off this information by running rogue TOR exit node servers. In this case, the password hashes were probably obtained by hacking into the servers of several Finnish web forums, F-Secure reckons. ®
COMMENTS
@anonymous coward
Very clever.
A while back a Finnish banner ad for the Dr. Who TV series read "Who the f**k?". This was from the national broadcasting company. Very amusing.
For some reason the threshold for using rude words in a foreign language is low.
Most common passwords
Amount Password cumulative %
214 salasana 1.18 (salasana=password in Finnish)
176 123456 2.16
118 perkele 2.81 (Common 4-letter word)
85 12345 3.28
74 qwerty 3.69
The whole list telling the so far found passwords and the number of appearances is available at http://10.uraanikaivos.com/yleisyys.txt
Page is in Finnish, but the list is understandable. Currently 28% of the passwords have been decrypted.
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