Security threats Toolkit

Story: Passwords are facing redundancy, says Gates

• 
• 

Isn't a PIN number a password, though? Albeit a more limited form of one. (Consider that there are only 10,000 possible 4-digit PIN numbers, compared to almost 15 million possible 4-character case-sensitive purely alphanumeric passwords.) So passwords aren't so much being replaced as being augmented with some extra technology.

As for that extra technology being biometric in nature, would that mean that I'd need to (say) have my DNA rewritten if someone stole my biometric details? And such a theft could happen: does anyone remember that list of AOL email addresses that some AOL employee sold to Spammers, for example? The nice thing about passwords is that at least you can change them easily.

• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

Full Talkback thread