When we talk about passwords, different tricks are recommended to create strong passwords. It is recommended, first of all, that it is easy to remember. Then, combine numbers and a symbol, such as a period, a comma or an exclamation.
Right now you are wondering how I can do something like this. It can be the combination of a city and a country that you like as it can be: “M4dr!d.Esp4nya”. This password is easy to remember and highly secure by combining uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols in a “random” way.
Unfortunate password to protect nuclear missiles
We know this information thanks to a process of declassification of official American documents that took place in 2013. One of the documents indicated that the password used for two decades on the computers that controlled nuclear missiles was “00000000”.
You can imagine that learning this information generated a great deal of excitement and many questions about the safety of American nuclear weapons.
You are probably wondering right now how this circumstance can happen. Well, it is actually a very varied combination of reasons.
First of all, we need to get to the 1960sat a time when computing was in its infancy and cybersecurity was not a concern. At that time, there were very few computers and connection networks were very limited. In addition, at that time they concentrated
The next factor in generating this extremely weak password was the culture of trust. The military assumed that only authorized personnel could have physical access to computers. Wrongly assuming that no one could sneak into the facilities.
We add as a last factor that the computers of the time were not very powerful and security options were very limited. For this reason, it was felt that a simple code would be more than sufficient to deter unauthorized intruders.
The eight-zero password was in place for two decades until protocols were changed. After the documents were declassified, a major debate erupted about the security of nuclear systems.
Thanks to these documents, access codes of greater complexity have been implemented. In addition, much stricter access protocols have been established and cybersecurity training for nuclear silo personnel has been strengthened. Furthermore, it should be noted that all this IT equipment is isolated from any type of network, to avoid possible unauthorized access.
This remains a very clear example of the measures we should not take when generating passwords. In the 1960s, knowledge about computer security was not as great as it is today. So, keeping weak or easy-to-obtain passwords should not be normal, even if it still is.
