Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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How secure does your computer user login password need to be and why? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 weeks ago by SentientFishbowl@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I'm aware of what constitutes a decent password, but typing in 15-30 random characters each time I lock my computer screen is starting to get a bit taxing.

How secure does my user password really need to be and what are the threats to it? Does the same apply to a root-enabled user as a "regular" user when it comes to password security?

For context, my threat model doesn't need to account for real people breaking in and accessing my computer, the damage would be very contained.

Bonus question - what are the risks of having a weak password on a root user on a spare laptop on the same network as my main device that is used exclusively for web browsing? Thanks.

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[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 48 points 3 weeks ago (20 children)

Using random characters is dumb.

It incetivices you to write it down (which in and of itself isn't a completely terrible idea).

As an IT guy, let me tell you, STOP using random passwords!

Use passphrases instead, it is far easier to remember a sentence than a random string of letters and numbers.

[–] ShortN0te@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Use a password manager instead.

[–] illi@lemm.ee 9 points 3 weeks ago

Very inconvenient for a PC login. Also, you need a password you can remember for your password manager at least

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah, but you still need a password you can remember to unlock the password manager

[–] ShortN0te@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 weeks ago

Yes, but the problem is memorizing multiple passwords not one. The majority of ppl is able to memorize a single complicated password.

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