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How Often Should You Change Your Password?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the every-eight-seconds dept.

jhigh writes "Bruce Schneier asks the question, how often should you change your password? 'The primary reason to give an authentication credential — not just a password, but any authentication credential — an expiration date is to limit the amount of time a lost, stolen, or forged credential can be used by someone else. If a membership card expires after a year, then if someone steals that card he can at most get a year's worth of benefit out of it. After that, it's useless.' Another reason could be to limit the amount of time an attacker has to crack the password, but Bruce's analysis seems on target."

4 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. Whenever you... by digitaldc · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...lose the post-it note on the bottom of your keyboard that you wrote it on, of course.

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
  2. Why Use a Password? by NavyNasa · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are you hiding something?

    --
    Space Cadet
  3. Re:What's the point? by fieldstone · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ah. Very good point. I hadn't considered the jealous girlfriend / boyfriend angle.

  4. Re:To Change or Not To Change by .sig · · Score: 4, Funny

    nobody uses AFSDWER$fq34agfre as a password

    Great, now I've got to go change all my passwords...

    --
    -Space for rent