Booz Allen Hamilton - Learning Systems and Human Nature

Date: 2011-07-13 09:17:46

According to Reuters, Booz Allen's recent breach was for a "learning management system for a government agency". This implies only test data was leaked.

Pie Chart showint 92 percent password reuse

Credit: Troy Hunt http://www.troyhunt.com/2011/06/brief-sony-password-analysis.html

Even if these were usernames and passwords from a test system, unless the test participants were explicitly told to create false emails and passwords, human nature will prevail. Breach after breach repeatedly demonstrates that people reuse the same passwords over and over. Recent analysis by Troy Hunt comparing the Gawker breach to the several LulzSec breaches showed a 92% occurrence of password reuse.

If you had any dealings with Booz Allen Hamilton or work for a government agency that contracted Booz Allen Hamilton, you should change your passwords. A little more than 66,000 of the compromised emails have been added to the shouldichangemypassword.com breach database. You can go there and enter your emails to see if they were part of the breach.

Category: Breach

Subcategory: Passwords