Simple passwords like “123456” or “password” still appear on the lists of the most frequently used passwords. In addition, in a recent survey by the digital association BITKOM on the occasion of “Change Your Password” Day on February 1st, a third of Internet users (35 percent) stated that they use the same password for different services.
Long and please complicated
“If you use a strong password and, where possible, have secured access with two-factor authentication, you don’t actually have to change your password regularly, but only if the provider provides information about possible security incidents.”
Simran Mann, BITKOM security expert
However, a password should consist of both upper and lower case letters as well as numbers and special characters. The following applies: the longer it is, the harder it is to find out by trial and error - but it should be ten characters. Terms that can be found in the dictionary should not be used, nor should those that have a simple connection to one's own work or family, such as dates of birth and names of children or animals.
Manager and 2FA protect
But password managers, BITKOM advises, can also help create good passwords for new services and manage existing passwords. To do this, they are stored in encrypted form; to access all of your passwords, you only have to remember one master password, a master key, so to speak. According to the security experts, this should be correspondingly strong.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) should also be activated. After entering the correct password, the user must provide an additional code. The user receives this via SMS, for example, or can view it using an app on their smartphone. The advantage: Even if the password falls into someone else's hands, an attacker can only gain access using the account holder's cell phone.
Source:
Press release
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