On 7/3/2013 2:30 PM, Joseph Tam wrote:
Brute force attempts are more intense, so I think these rules can be set harder to not risk plunking your users into blacklist hell. Also, some common role account (that don't exist on my system e.g. "admin") will trigger an immediate blacklist here -- an easy way to shortcut the process.
Certainly, set the rules to whatever works for your system. My example is just what I used and it worked well for me.
Your example is why I specified that an attempt to login as a blocked account does *not* extend the blocking time. Otherwise, you run the risk of a rolling block that goes on forever.
Why are users on your system entering bad passwords all the time? Every major mail client can save passwords in a reasonably secure format so the feeble minded human is free of that burden. Even with webmail, the browser generally can save passwords. In fact, I feel this is safer. It eliminates keystroke loggers from getting the password.
It also makes it easier to enforce strong passwords. If the user had to type in a 16 character strong password each time (such as HjY6##k,F8Dl9sy1), many of them would certainly complain loudly and often. However, if the user can enter that password once into their chosen software and not have to remember it again, you get good protection from brute force attacks and happy users. Typing a password once is much easier than even typing "cat" 50,000 times over the course of several years.
Dem