28 July 2012
Editor, Voices
Today Paper
I refer to the report "Singaporeans putting their online accounts at risk" in Today
paper.
It quoted a survey by an IT solutions company Assurity Trusted Solutions that many users do
not adopt security measures, such as changing their passwords at regular intervals.
I wish to give my views about IT security, so that the website administrators and regulators do not go
overboard in addressing this issue:
overboard in addressing this issue:
- Many online accounts, especially those used for social networking,
do not contain critical information - It is not practical to ask users to change their passwords at regular intervals, as they have to
maintain several dozen online accounts - For transactions that have financial or legal impact, it is sufficient to use a second factor
authentication, or to ask the user to enter a second password.
There is still the risk of unauthorized hacking into online accounts that do not have a high level of
security. It is better to clarify that hacking is a criminal activity, similar to a burglar entering
into a private residence. Many hackers may not be aware that they could be charged for this crime.
Tan Kin Lian
Management of many companies just delegate the management of IT security to the young programmers, who have no understanding of the challenges of an aging population. They think that everybody is like them, able to see small fonts, remember complicated passwords, able to press this and press that in record short time. They only succeed in locking out the genuine owner but not the dedicated robber so they make it increasingly complicated when it is unnecessary when there are simple solutions practiced in other countries.
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