Working with passwords is a chore that no one looks forward to, but having them is essential to maintaining the safety of your online accounts, at least until something more convenient appears. Here are some critical tips provided by Curricula, online security experts.

You probably already take measures to ensure that your passwords are robust and challenging to decipher. You should take it a step further and make it a rule to never use the same password for more than one account at the same time. 

But there’s also this other thing to think about: Should you make frequent changes to the passwords you use to log in to your accounts? If yes, how frequently do you do it? 

How frequently you should change your passwords, in accordance with recommendations from cybersecurity professionals. 

It is recommended that you alter your passwords at regular intervals, typically once every several months. This recommendation has been offered by security professionals for many years, and it is still very simple to locate this recommendation online. 

It is strongly recommended by security experts that individuals attempt to change their passwords at least once every three months. Because of this, in the event that a user’s password is cracked, the amount of time a hacker can spend within a compromised account will be limited to a manageable amount of time.

This line of reasoning appears to make sense; nevertheless, the majority of security professionals today disagree with it. This is excellent news for everyone who recoils in horror at the idea of changing all of their passwords many times a year. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is an organization inside the Department of Commerce, published Digital Identity Guidelines in 2017, which modified the way the game was played regarding the security of passwords. 

Other experts recommend that if each of your passwords is robust and distinct, then there is no requirement that you update them on a frequent basis unless you become aware of a breach in your password security. However, some take the position that users who change their passwords regularly end up taking shortcuts, which causes their passwords to become less secure and makes it easier for hackers to crack them. 

You should adhere to these instructions rather than constantly switching out a password that is working absolutely fine: 

• Make certain that each of your passwords is both robust and distinct. 
• Make use of a password manager so that you do not have to commit your passwords to memory or write them down. 
• password managers will not only store all of your passwords in an encrypted vault, but they will also fill them in for you.
• Password managers will audit your existing passwords, looking for those that are either too old, too weak, or too repetitive. They will then generate new passwords for each of your accounts.

Changing your password is an absolute need if you have any suspicion that one of your accounts has been compromised.

Curricula can help you determine the right approach for your situation.