password management

Password Rules Are Bullshit

passwords

Password Rules Are Bullshit

Of the many, many, many bad things about passwords, you know what the worst is? Password rules. Let this pledge be duly noted on the permanent record of the Internet. I don’t know if there’s an afterlife, but I’ll be finding out soon enough, and I plan

By Jeff Atwood ·
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Your Password is Too Damn Short

password security

Your Password is Too Damn Short

I’m a little tired of writing about passwords. But like taxes, email, and pinkeye, they’re not going away any time soon. Here’s what I know to be true, and backed up by plenty of empirical data: * No matter what you tell them, users will always choose simple

By Jeff Atwood ·
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security

The Dramatic Password Reveal

As far back as I can remember-- which admittedly isn't very far-- GUI toolkits have included a special type of text entry field for passwords. As you type, the password field displays a generic character, usually a dot or asterisk, instead of the character you actually typed. I&

By Jeff Atwood ·
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security

You're Probably Storing Passwords Incorrectly

The web is nothing if not a maze of user accounts and logins. Almost everywhere you go on the web requires yet another new set of credentials. Unified login seems to elude us at the moment, so the status quo is an explosion of usernames and passwords for every user.

By Jeff Atwood ·
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password management

The Login Explosion

I have fifty online logins, and I can't remember any of them. What's my password? I can't use the same password for every website. That's not secure. So every password is unique and specific to that website. And what's my

By Jeff Atwood ·
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