World Password Day: What is it?
JOHN CAVANAUGH | Vice President - Office of the CTO?
Over time, simple passwords proved easy to guess through social engineering.?As a result, the industry moved to recommend complex passwords and frequent rotations for passwords to improve security. However, human nature dictates that most people use common passwords across multiple systems. Complex passwords are often difficult for us to remember, but studies have shown that they are surprisingly easy for hackers to guess.?
To fight this issue, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) upgraded its recommendations in 2017 to use a grouping of random words in conjunction with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). This technique has been proven to create passwords difficult for computers to guess, which can be very secure when used with MFA.??
Unfortunately, many firms (and individuals) are still using outdated guidelines that require passwords with upper- and lower-case characters, numbers, and special symbols—the very practice that led to password re-use, making such passwords easy targets for cyber-attacks.?
So, what is World Password Day??
World Password Day was established in 2013, originating from an Intel Corporation initiative to raise awareness about the role passwords play in safeguarding our digital lives. Some users seldom change passwords, so it was also intended as a reminder to change them (at least annually). Now, the day is observed every year on the first Thursday of May.
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