Time to update your passwords again, it's world password day

The Downfall of the Password

Let’s be real here: passwords are dying. In the olden days, you could get by with 2-3 memorable passwords and brute-force your brain to figure out how to get into your MySpace account without fear of being locked out, and that was still pretty secure. 

Nowadays, if you try a move like that, you’d likely be compromised the second you create a new account using those same passwords. The golden years of memorable and convenient passwords are now nothing but a memory, as passwords are just one more tiny link in a much larger chain that is your digital security, and to be honest, they aren’t very strong links. Passwords used to be the keys of the digital world, but unlike real-world locks, they have become very easy to break and take advantage of.  

Preparing for a Funeral 

With World Password Day coming up, we should prepare for their funeral rather than celebrate the password. Google, Microsoft, and Apple, amongst many other tech giants, have all begun to look at passkeys and passwordless accounts in the future, and passwords will likely be nothing but a fun memory in years to come. And while passwords are about as good as a paper door for any hacker worth their salt, that doesn’t mean that we should let slide the best practices that made passwords secure in the first place.  

So, while we wait for the funeral, let’s make sure we all have the best practices on lock before the next thing comes and we relinquish the day to them: 

1. Mash that Keyboard: Your password should be a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. The more human your password is, the more likely brute force attempts will crack it fast. Make sure to use as many characters as the box allows and use a password generator to really make something complex. The uglier the password, the more secure it is, so make it ugly.  
2. Reuse bottles and throw away passwords: Big corporate breaches happen all the time, and one of the pieces of data that always gets exfiltrated along with your name and email is the password. The second they land in a Pastebin, you better believe hundreds of nefarious folks are looking through that data and testing those passwords with every login they can find using your email. The trick to staying ahead of the breaches is using unique passwords for EVERY account you create, no exceptions! Password managers make this very easy now, but we will get to that in a moment.   
3. Change it often: Passwords fall into different tiers of priority and importance. Your bank account or corporate password is considerably more important than your TikTok account, unless you are making millions on TikTok, in which case why are you here? Consider which accounts are the highest priority and are the most likely to come under attack, and ensure you update those passwords often. Staying abreast of the latest breaches and attacks also doesn't hurt. If you're using a breached service, you should update the password ASAP. 
4. It’s Dangerous to Go Alone: With additional security practices like Multi-factor authentication, face ID login, and password apps, staying on top of these best practices is now as straightforward as logging into MySpace in 2006. Take advantage of every utility and service offered to you through your phone, browser, and other devices, and make sure to always opt for more security when it’s offered.  

So Long, and Thanks for all the Logins 

Even as passwords continue to lose relevance in technology and security, they will at least be remembered with dignity, as we have all become experts at password behavior. This World Password Day, let’s celebrate these final years of passwords by making them the absolute best they can be, and when the time comes, let’s say goodbye to them with dignity by making a Kids React to Passwords YouTube video seven years later.