Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Best practices for passwords updated after original author regrets his advice

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

My password is written on a PostIt attached to my computer monitor.* This practice is the result of very bad advice viven 15 years ago by Bill Burr and implemented into policy by computer services. It's the rule that says we have to use special characters and rotate the password every six months. As Randall Munroe comments, we have successfully trained people to use passwords that are hard to remember but easy for computers to crack. The correct solution? Write longer passwords that you can remember. (*) Not really. It's written in code on a random piece of paper on my desk.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 6:52 p.m.

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