Supercomputer methods mean
phone numbers aren't random
As the National Security Agency gears up its Idaho data vacuum cleaner, it would be well to bear in mind that randomly selected telephone numbers can no longer be trusted as passwords.

The NSA will be able to test routinely all U.S. phone numbers, along with most of the world's phone numbers, when seeking a password.

A few years ago, the Social Security Administration was suggesting the use of a telephone number for use as a password for an online account.

Clearly, the NSA emulators with supercomputer and super-data-mining capabilities will also check the world's set of phone numbers.

Even using an internet random number generator may be risky for your privacy as the NSA may be monitoring the site. Some may not worry about such snooping, but perhaps they are unaware of a case several years ago of a CIA employe using the power to monitor international bank data for his own benefit.

If you use a telephone number as a password, modify it by inserting a few letters. If you use an English word for your insert, use a phonetic misspelling.

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