Allen wrote:
Very. The (I hate to use this term for something so pathetic) password
for the file is 6 (yes, six) numeric characters!
My 6 year old K6-II can crack this in less than one minute as there are
only 1.11*10^6 possible.
Not so fast. Bank PINs are usually just 4 numeric characters long and
yet they are considered /safe/ even for web access to the account
(where a physical card is not required).
Why? Because after 4 tries the access is blocked for your IP number
(in some cases after 3 tries).
The question is not only how many combinations you have but also how
much time you need to try enough combinations so that you can succeed.
I'm not defending the designers of that email system, as I do not know
any specifics -- I'm just pointing out that what you mention is not
necessarily a problem and may be even safer than secure online banking
today.
Cheers,
Ed Gerck
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