>> What Is Password Safety?

Article by: Kurt Keller
Because of...
If you have grown up in a small village, chances are, that you never had to show any proof of identity when you withdrew money from your account at the local bank. And the clerk never bothered to check your signature on the slip you had to sign. You could use your account because the clerk knew you; because of...
... who you are

If I tell my credit card company to issue a credit card to you and charge everything paid with it to my account, you can use my account. Not because of who you are, but because you have a credit card for this account; because of...
... what you have

Did you ever call your bank and ask something about your account? If they did not know you by your voice, they will have asked you something about your account, like when and how much the last payment was or how much money there is about in the account. Before identifying you this way, they would not give you any information. Access to info about your account was only granted because you could correctly answer questions to which only you were supposed to know the answer; because of...
... what you know

Who you are--What you have--What you know. Identification is usually based on these three principles, not only in the physical world, but also on the Internet. Somebody might give you some information because you used your email address to ask for that information; because of who you are. Somebody else might trust information because it is signed by the secret part of your Gnu PG key which only you have; because of what you have. And Hotmail will allow access to your account because you used the correct password; because of what you know. [by: Kurt Keller]

For further information visit: http://www.tokyopc.org/newsletter/2002/09/password_safety.html