Passwords are stupid.
Yet what’s stupid about passwords is not that they are inherently insecure, but they allow users—and in fact, encourage users—to do insecure things. When faced with the creation, and subsequent memorizing, of a new password, most users decide to use the same, stupid, easy-to-remember password they’ve used elsewhere. That’s just the kind of vulnerability hackers are looking for.
Don’t be that victim. You can turn all your stupid passwords into safer ones that are easier to manage, in three easy steps.
1. Acknowledge you have a password problem
Everyone has stupid passwords. Take the findings of managed security firm Trustwave, which regularly tests the security of its clients to find vulnerabilities. During its security tests in 2014, the company collected 625,000 password hashes (the scrambled form in which passwords are stored), and its researchers tried to break them. Within two minutes, more than half—54 percent—fell to common password guessing techniques. In a month, the company had recovered 92 percent of the passwords.
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