If a "forgot your password?" page emails your old password, is that definitive proof that they have

Posted by S. Michaels on Super User See other posts from Super User or by S. Michaels
Published on 2009-09-25T16:16:18Z Indexed on 2010/04/10 19:53 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 282

Filed under:

security

|

passwords

|

encryption

When a site emails your old password, as opposed to requiring you to reset it on the site, I'm wondering what that implies about their security measures.

Does this mean that they store the password in plain text for their own convenience or could they still use encryption on the password?

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about security

sudo apt-get update errors

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Here is what I get on my terminal when running sudo apt-get update errors. I dont know if the issue is from my sources.list or my proxy setup(have not made any changes to proxies). Thank you for any help in advanced. Ign http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security Release.gpg Ign http://security… >>> More
The Security-Developer Gap: Why IT Security Can't Fix Your Security Problems Alone

as seen on Devx - Search for 'Devx'
Two well-known white hats explain how hackers take advantage of security holes left by enterprise application developers. >>> More
The Security-Developer Gap: Why IT Security Can't Fix Your Security Problems Alone

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Two well-known white hats explain how hackers take advantage of security holes left by enterprise application developers. >>> More
StackOverFlowError while creating Mac object on AS400/Java

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello all, I am a newbie to AS400-Java programming. I am trying to create my first program to test the implementation of Message Authentication Code (MAC). I am trying to use the HMACSHA1 hash function. My (Java 1.4) program runs fine on a dev box (V5R4).But fails terribly on the QA box (V5R3). My… >>> More
Google App Engine - Spring Security Issue (java.security.AccessControlException)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm currently getting the AccessControlException below when I deploy to app engine (I don't see it when I run in my local environment). I'm using GAE 1.3.1, Spring 3.0.1, and Spring Security 3.0.2. Any ideas how to get around this issue? It appears to be an issue with Spring Security trying to get… >>> More

Related posts about passwords

Fixing /etc/shadow with md5 passwords to sha512 passwords

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
I recently upgraded an ubuntu server with many users to a recent version from a version from 2008. The server used to use md5 password hashes (e.g., the shadow passwords began with $1$) and now is configured to use sha512. I'd prefer to keep using sha512, but would like the old users to be able… >>> More
How to securely generate memorable passwords?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Whenever I need new passwords I use some tools to generate those, preferable memorable passwords, but I've been wondering how secure this might actually be. Using The xkcd random number generator is probably pretty bad, cat /dev/random is probably pretty good, but generating memorable passwords seems… >>> More
Gawker Passwords

as seen on Geeks with Blogs - Search for 'Geeks with Blogs'
There has been much news about the hack of the Gawker web sites. There has even been an analysis of the common passwords found. This list is embarrassing in many ways. The most common password was "123456". The second most common password was "password". Much has also been written providing… >>> More
Phishing Ploy Forces Twitter to Reset Passwords

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
The microblogging site has reset some Twitter users' passwords after a phishing attack attempted to steal their login information. >>> More
Phishing Ploy Forces Twitter to Reset Passwords

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
The microblogging site has reset some Twitter users' passwords after a phishing attack attempted to steal their login information. >>> More