Quotes Icon

Andrew M.

Andrew M.

VP of Operations

"We use TeamPassword for our small non-profit and it's met our needs well."

Get Started

Table Of Contents

    A hand holding a smartphone

    Let’s Talk About Password Complexity

    July 12, 20183 min read

    Password Management
    Table of Contents

      If you’ve been keeping up with the news, you are more than aware that the internet is essentially the Wild West right now. Hackers and career criminals make a fortune exploiting computer users, and extort them for ransom, paid in bitcoin. Just like in the real world, criminals can attack at any time. But also just like in the real world, you can become more streetwise, gain some spacial awareness and make yourself safe when surfing and working on the web.

      For most average people, the weakest link in their security is simply their password. In 2018, the phrase “password” is even a bit of a misnomer. It’s much better and much safer to use passphrases. There are a few strategies to write good passphrases that I recommend. Start by choosing a few of your favorite things. For example, I will start with my favorite band, Guided by Voices. I will also use one of my favorite songs from them, like “Echos Myron.” Take some words from each of your sources, and mix it up with maybe some meaningful numbers to you.

      Let’s give it a shot:

      VoicesJMY6ASMyron7988Liberty

      This password is constructed of the third word from the name of the band, a license plate number for a car, the second word from the song title, part of a phone number, and a standout word from the song. Since you built this phrase yourself, you should be able to remember it easily, and you now have a 28-character password! Passphrases can be super powerful because it makes it very easy to remember a long string of characters that would make very little sense to anyone else but you. If you build all of your passphrases like this, your passwords will be nearly impossible for another human to guess. You can take it another step further by substituting letters or numbers for symbols. For example in the password above, you can replace all the ‘i’ characters with the ‘!’ symbol. This will break most of the dictionary words in your password making it even more impenetrable, while being just as easy to remember!

      Also, our new password manager, TeamPassword, offers a password generation tool with options to specify password length and character sets. This makes it easy to generate and save secure passwords for any service you use. Additionally, TeamPassword encrypts all passwords with a master key that you set before sending them to their servers, so no one is able to read them unless they have your master key.

      See how well that works? And it’s easy. Go have some fun updating your passwords, and remember to change them frequently!

      Enhance your password security

      The best software to generate and have your passwords managed correctly.

      TeamPassword Screenshot
      facebook social icon
      twitter social icon
      linkedin social icon
      Related Posts

      Password Management

      March 11, 202512 min read

      Time-Based One-Time Passwords (TOTP): Benefits and Use Cases

      Time-based one-time passwords are the most common form of MFA. Here are the benefits and use cases of ...

      Group of happy people gathered around a tablet

      Cybersecurity

      March 11, 20258 min read

      Cybersecurity for Nonprofits: Keeping Your Nonprofit Secure

      Cybersecurity is critical for all organizations, including nonprofits. Learn more in this guide about cybersecurity for nonprofits.

      Cybersecurity

      March 10, 20258 min read

      ChatGPT and Cybersecurity: Risks, Potential Benefits & More

      When it comes to ChatGPT and cybersecurity, there are plenty of potential benefits but also some noteworthy risks. ...

      Never miss an update!

      Subscribe to our blog for more posts like this.

      Promotional image