The Daily Valet. - 11/18/21, Thursday

✔️ You Haven't Chosen a Bad Password, Have You?

Thursday, November 18th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

I’ve just updated some embarrassingly easy passwords. By the end of this, you might too.

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today’s edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

The Worst Passwords

This year’s top slots featured obvious winners like “1234” which can be cracked in less than a second

It’s certainly been a busy year for hackers. The Identity Theft Research Center reports the number of data breaches so far this year has already surpassed the total number in 2020 by 17%. And this could be a record-breaking year for massive cyberattacks.

Even the FBI confirmed last weekend that one of its email servers had been hacked, resulting in spam emails being sent to the public. Which is to say ... you would think we’d all be eager to protect our digital information.

But if this year’s list of the 200 most popular passwords is any indication, we’re just as dumb as we’ve ever been. Should I say reckless?

The Awful Password List is an annual project from the password manager NordPass, which puts us on blast year after year for using phrases like “123456" and “password” as login credentials (despite us knowing how bad those passwords are).

According to Gizmodo, those same offenders appeared on NordPass’s top 20 list this year, along with some other ill-advised choices. Most of these, like “123456789" or “000000,” involve some kind of number-mashing on your keyboard that the company estimates would be relatively easy for any coder to crack in about one second. So maybe don’t do that.

NordPass CEO Jonas Karklys remains baffled. “Unfortunately, passwords keep getting weaker,” he said in a statement. “It’s important to understand that passwords are the gateway to our digital lives, and with us spending more and more time online, it’s becoming enormously important to take better care of our cybersecurity.”

↦ FYI: Keep your passwords long, complicated and hard to guess. Gizmodo has a guide on how to make and manage incredibly secure passwords.

U.S. Aims to Boost Vaccine Capacity

America is committing billions to help ramp up COVID-fighting manufacturing

Earlier this year, President Biden pledged to make the United States “the arsenal of vaccines, as we were the arsenal of democracy during World War II.” On Wednesday, the White House took what could be an important step toward that ambition, announcing that the government would invest billions of dollars in drugmakers to scale up domestic production to that can shared with the world and help prepare for the next pandemic.

According to the Associated Press, the initiative comes as the Biden White House has faced growing pressure at home and abroad over inequity in the global vaccine supply—as the U.S. moves toward approving booster shots for all adults while vulnerable people in poorer nations still wait for their first dose of protection.

The new investment should help in the distribution of vaccines overseas, though it's unclear if it will be enough to reach President Biden's pledge to vaccinate 70% of the world by September 2022.

The new plan does highlight one of the big stumbling blocks in supply: the vaccine manufacturers themselves. The Washington Post reports that Pfizer and Moderna have also come under criticism for not taking greater steps to increase supply and creating an alleged “duopoly.”

↦ Meanwhile: According to a new global study, mask-wearing reduces COVID incidence by 53%.

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Airlines Rewrite Frequent-Flier Rules

Frequent-flier programs are becoming ‘frequent spender’ instead

Frequent-flier programs could really use a new name: Welcome to the era of the frequent-spender program.

According to the Wall Street Journal, airlines have been increasingly rewarding spending over actual flying—and American Airlines is about to push this trend farther than any big carrier. The airline will make it possible to earn elite status without taking a single flight starting in March. Credit-card miles will count more toward status than ever before.

Apparently, there's nothing officially on the books that says frequent-flyer programs have to be good, or fair, or even about flying frequently. And this was somewhat expected. Leisure travel has recovered somewhat, but the more lucrative business travel market is still way off, with recovery not expected until 2023, and perhaps not even then.

And even in the years leading up to the pandemic, airline loyalty programs had made upgrades and free tickets more elusive. But most major carriers are doing any and everything they can to make it easier to stick with the program: From Delta's extending of status for an entire year to Lufthansa's experimentation with a direct-to-consumer Warby Parker model.

↦ Meanwhile: United sure chose a very weird time to reinstate alcohol on flights.

The Current State of Optimism

Where are young people the most optimistic? In poorer nations.

Children and young people are nearly 50% more likely than older people to believe that the world is becoming a better place with each generation, according to a new international survey by UNICEF and Gallup released ahead of World Children's Day.

Yet, despite their optimism, young people are far from naïve, expressing restlessness for action on climate change, skepticism about information they consume on social media, struggling with anxiety and concerned about their ability to make a better living than their parents.

The New York Times' UpShot dug into the data compiled in the large-scale survey, taken in 21 countries. They found that for young people in wealthier nations, the dream of upward mobility seems more like a story about the past than modern-day reality. But in poorer countries, there is still hope that their lives will be better than those of their parents.

Young Americans surveyed still said hard work was most important to success, but many agreed that not everyone is born at the same starting line, and that success is not entirely within their control. The UpShot said this generation's doubts on the “American Dream” matches a recent economic finding that since 1980, Americans are no longer likelier than not to earn more than their parents.

In Other News

↦ U.S. Overdose Deaths Topped 100,000 in One Year, Officials Say

↦ The Two Men Convicted of Killing Malcolm X Will Be Exonerated

↦ This Company Is Making a Pumpkin Pie Weed Dessert for Your Thanksgiving

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

A portable Christmas tree

This futuristic automotive feature

Silk Sonic radio

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