Password Quote by Julia Angwin
““Before this regime started, I had a reasonably long password—about eleven characters long, if I recall correctly. But the constant pressure to make a new password has steadily degraded my ingenuity. In 2012 I gave up and just made each password into the month that the e-mail reminder arrived. So when the March e-mail password reset reminder arrived, I changed my password to March2012! (with the requisite exclamation point to satisfy the symbol police). In June, I changed it to 2012June?, and on like that. I had dropped to nine easily guessable characters.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: The New York Times, 2015
Password fatigue leads to insecure, predictable choices, compromising security.
In simple terms: Too many password changes cause weak passwords.
Key Takeaway
Adopt password manager and unique passphrases.
Themes
cybersecurity
human factors
password fatigue
risk management
Mood
frustrated
pragmatic
Type
practical
technical
When to use this quote
- online banking
- work accounts
- personal email
Key Concepts
security hygiene
behavioral economics
Questions to Reflect On
- How can organizations reduce password fatigue?
- What alternatives exist to frequent changes?
A Different Perspective
May not address underlying systemic password policies.
