To this aim, Upadhyay said he and Grosse have been working with the FIDO Allance, an industry group that was formed last summer to address the problems caused by the current system of password authentication.

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The New York Times reported earlier that Google's password system had been breached.

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Typically, an attacker will attempt to bypass the username and password system by sending code or characters that confuse the site's programming.

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Millions of websites now employ social login, driven by the fact that the old site-specific registration and password system is no longer scalable.

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Seven years ago Microsoft floated a similar-sounding scheme called Passport that granted users access to any site that agreed to use the same password system.

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Feature-wise, preferences and other desktop settings imported easily with Firefox Sync's shared password system, and the unfortunately named "Awesome Screen" is the new home page shown above, from which it's fairly simple to launch your preferred sites.

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The Justice Department said Mr. Liang's position at the FDA gave him access to the agency's password-protected tracking system used to manage drug applications and drug-safety issues.

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The nominator will need to create a user id or password if new to the system.

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So a user simply has to chose a password and then the PGP system does all of the encryption and makes the file or the message secure.

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Totzke advises all smartphone users to enable a password, quickly download security updates from their phones operator system and carefully consider the source of any applications they download.

CNN: Smartphone security threats likely to rise

The web site administration for this system, a system that can be used to disable automobiles, is protected by simple password authentication that is open to brute force attack.

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In December 2010, in an online forum used by Anonymous, Keys, under the username AESCracked, allegedly shared a username and password that he told them would allow them to access the content management system of Fox 40 and the Times.

FORBES: Justice Dept. Charges Reuters Employee Matthew Keys With Helping Anonymous Hack Tribune Co.