Since 2010
NAB:
On Saturday 24th November we extended our Internet Banking password to allow more than 8 characters.
I think it’s pretty obvious that this change by one of the world’s largest banks is entirely down to my earlier post on this subject…
Here’s a handy little Dropbox on iOS trick: if you mark a file as a favourite by touching the little star icon, Dropbox will keep a copy of that file locally on your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch. Any favourite files are also automatically updated if they’ve changed since you last opened Dropbox on your device.
I was looking for an easy way to store booking confirmations, but honestly had no idea this feature existed in Dropbox.
My brother has just pointed out that in exactly one week - if everything goes to schedule - I will be touching down in Scotland for the first time since I left on 3rd April 2010.
I’ve been joking with people that for the price of this trip back to the UK I could have a kick-ass holiday almost anywhere in the world, and that’s true, but I’m really looking forward to seeing family, friends and the places I was once so familiar with.
But perhaps even more than that I’m looking forward to finding out how my perception of Scotland has changed. The first few days weeks and months here in Australia were tough. Really tough. And I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to shake the overwhelming desire to jack it all in and head back to familiar territory.
Some folk who have lived here for a while and have returned home for visits say that as soon as they walk in their parents’ front door they can’t wait to get back to Sydney. Others have the opposite reaction, to the point where a couple of people I met here have actually moved back to the UK after a visit.
I have no reason to believe I’ll be any different: this trip will either make me realise that life in Australia is actually pretty tickety-boo, or it’ll confirm that I’m happiest with what I know in the UK.
I’d like to say it’s been fun, but it hasn’t. It’s been miserable. Was it good for you, Telstra? Was it? You took my money month-after-month in exchange for connection to your telephony and Internet services, and I was happy. I never complained. I ensured that the money I owed you was there for the taking.
And then you turned around and shafted me. Your glitzy new website (paid for by some of the aforementioned money, no doubt) began advertising super new plans! Cheap phone calls! Gazillions of Internet! Join now!
So I tried. I rang you up, and told you all about the creaking old bundle I was on, and why I wanted to pay a little bit less for a whole lot more, just like your website told me I could.
But you said I couldn’t. Those plans are only for new customers. You told me you’d be happy to switch my current service over, but that would see the start of a new 24 month contract. That’s TWO YEARS in old money. You didn’t want to know about the thousands of dollars I’ve happily given you over the last couple of years. And you laughed when I pointed out that the feeble download-limit you’ve imposed on me over that time just doesn’t work here in 2012.
What happened to loyalty? What happened to looking after existing customers?
So sod you. I’m off. I’ve had offers from about half-a-dozen other companies. Damned good offers. Don’t even THINK about gripping on to that telephone line I’ve been renting from you for two years: I’ll need that where I’m going. I’m serious. I’ll go postal on your ass. Serves you right for not even trying to hold on to my custom.
“Change Internet banking password” has been on my todo list for a long time, because I’ve always had this niggling feeling that it wasn’t very secure. It didn’t have any special characters, and it was quite short in length.
So I steered my browser towards NAB’s homepage, logged in, and found the functionality I was after.
And then I saw this:
Your new Internet Banking Password must be between 6 and 8 characters in length and consist of a combination of letters and numbers (e.g. 1acb1234).
What. The. Ho? This isn’t Weatherzone, where it’s cute to create an account so the temperature is always displayed in Kelvin instead of Celcius, this is an Internet banking site. A password of just eight alphanumeric characters doesn’t cut the mustard these days. Are you listening NAB? It’s people’s money. My money. Savings. Credit cards.
Spotted on The Register today, in a story about a breach of user passwords at eHarmony:
…more than 1.2 million passwords were cracked in 72 hours, using three NVIDIA GPUs…