Blackberry Banning Most Common Passwords

Blackberry has made a good step forward for usable security by banning some of the most common passwords from being used on their newest operating system. Passwords like “password”, “qwerty”, and “letmein” can no longer be used.

This basic step is a really good idea, as it stops people from shooting themselves in the foot while imposing very minimal additional burden. Here, the cost-benefit definitely makes sense. Attackers gain very little by knowing which passwords not to use, the organization gains more security, and end-users have only a little bit more burden (and honestly, they shouldn’t have been using these passwords anyway). All in all, a win-win situation.