Hey, so, it's Change Your Password Day. Which means you should like, change your password.
Why are we asking people to do this? I probably have twice as many stupid accounts on a multitude of sites, services and forums than I did two years ago. And there's a new thing to sign up for everyday. Some of that's going away, with Facebook and Google logins and identities that persist across vast stretches of the web, but by and large, where I had like four accounts with passwords when I first jumped on the internet 15 years ago, I have literally hundreds now, and I doubt that I'm alone. It's only a matter of time before one of them gets hacked. So far, it's happened twice—here at Gizmodo (we're working on something that'll make sure it doesn't happen again) and then at Zappos—and I'm pretty sure it's going to happen again. I haven't lost anything, but next time I might. Unless I do something about it.
Maybe you don't wanna do something obsessive, like use a password manager like LastPass or 1Password to generate and keep a million different crazy passwords for your million different accounts scattered across the internet. That's cool. I get it. Instead, maybe just up your password scheme one level of security—throw in some symbols if you haven't already. Use different root passwords for your email and bank stuff from everything else. Maybe have a beater password for sites where the account doesn't matter that much, just in case it does get hacked (ahem). Anything that's slightly better than what you've got now. And maybe by this time next year, you'll be glad you did. Or something will happen and you'll decide to go one step further, but I sort of hope not.
Eventually none of this will be necessary—likely, your DNA will be your password, in one form or another—but in the meantime, if you'll excuse me, I've got like an hour of password changing to do.
P.S. Oh, the ten best comments or stories about passwords in the comments? I've got ten free subscriptions to LastPass for you, courtesy of LastPass.
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