At a time when millions of people are becoming victims of identity theft and billions of dollars have been lost to fraud, password security is more important than ever before.

Why is it important to have a strong password?

Passwords are your first line of defense against intruders and imposters. Simply put, tougher passwords make it harder for hackers to impersonate you and shield you from many threats.

How to improve your password security:

• Do not share your password with anyone – In order to maintain a strong password, you must keep it confidential and avoid giving it out to anyone. In fact, the Missouri State Password Policy prohibits sharing your password with others.
• Don’t reuse passwords – A large number of online break-ins occur because people have recycled a password across their email, social media, and financial accounts. If your password for any one of those services is compromised, then the others will be vulnerable and put you at risk.

• Think of your password as a sentence instead of a word – While having a strong password mixed with letters, special characters, and numbers is encouraged, it can be difficult to remember. Thinking of your password as a phrase instead of a word or a string of random characters may be easier for you to remember while still protecting your information and meeting the complexity standards for strong passwords. A good example of a passphrase would be “ILik3Cheese!”

When should passwords be changed?

Should you ever change your password? Well, sometimes. Per Missouri State’s Password Policy, all users are required to change their password every 120 days to help protect the users account. For other accounts you may have though, you may be allowed to create a strong, complex password to use for a specific site and then never change it again. In either case, if you have reason to believe that your password has been stolen, you should change it immediately and make sure that you change it on all your accounts where you use the same or a similar password.

You should also change your password if you’ve shared it with another person, noticed someone looking over your shoulder as you were typing your password, or typed it into a website you feel is suspicious. Even if your password is fine and you just feel like it’s time for a change, then feel free to change your password.

In our next post, we will discuss the benefits of utilizing a password manager. If you have any questions or concerns about password security, please feel free to contact us at InformationSecurity@Missouristate.edu.