Earlier this week, I noticed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had died at the age of 57. Goodell is not necessarily the most likable guy in the room, but as a pro football fan, I was stunned to learn he had died.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, it turns out the news of Goodell’s demise has been great exaggerated. He’s not dead at all. Instead, the NFL’s Twitter account was hacked and that hacker posted this false message: “We regret to inform our fans that our commissioner, Roger Goodell, has passed away. He was 57.”
To make matters worse, this Twitter post was quickly accepted as fact and shared by many across the world of misinformation we know as the Internet. The post may seem harmless enough, all in good fun you know, but imagine if one of Goodell’s daughters saw the news online and believed it to be true.
This scenario provides a glimpse of what to expect down the line as social media seizes a greater portion of our collective attention. If Goodell's death is easily accepted as truth, how much further will these pranksters go? And what if a phony online post creates rioting and chaos?
Online security has become a gorilla-sized problem, at least according to a story I read online yesterday at cnn.com. If that story is to be believed, it said more than 120,000 people have set their Twitter password as “123456.”
This was followed in popularity, according to security company Leaked Source, by the password “123456789” and the password “password.” With such easily guessable passwords, it’s no surprise social media accounts are getting hacked with regularity. What is a surprise is that Commissioner Goodell is the only one dead.
I’m guessing the NFL Twitter page has a more difficult password than 12345, but the league is not revealing that information. A spokesman said in a press release the league is looking to strengthen its security measures but didn’t elaborate.
The Mel Brooks movie “Spaceballs,” which is a spoof on “Star Wars,” had a running joke about weak codes when it was revealed in the movie the top-secret password everyone was seeking was “12345.”
When informed of that password, bad guy Dark Helmet said, "That’s the stupidest combination I’ve ever heard in my life. That’s the kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage."
Fast forward three decades later from that 1987 film and people are still using simple passwords. They are using them to protect their social media pages and sensitive online information. I'm wondering if anyone protects their bank account with "12345."
Here's to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's health. May he live long and prosper. And may his life never depend on an unbreakable username and password.
Standard editor James Clark can be reached at 473-2191.