Passwords are important for system security, but many people have weak passwords that can be easily compromised. Common words and misspelled variations are still weak options. The best advice is to use longer, memorable phrases that are unlikely to be in a dictionary. While it may seem difficult, it is important to prioritize strong passwords for better security.

John Oliver and Edward Snowden talk password security.

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Or why is it important that we have better ones than the ones that we do have, because the ones that we do have are embarrassingly bad?

Bad passwords are 1 of the easiest ways to compromise a system.

For somebody who has a very common eight-character password, it can literally take less than a second for a computer to go through the possibilities and pull that password out.

Okay, so which of these seem like good options?

That would be within normal password dictionaries.

But it's misspelt, though, so that was the kind of trip wire on it.

It's still 8 characters, even if it's not within your password dictionary, which would mean it

Okay, okay, okay, it's a bad 1, it's a bad 1.

Limp Bizkit forever with limp biscuit spelled properly but forever not.

I think The best advice here is to shift your thinking from past words to past phrases.

Think about a common phrase that works for you that's too long to brute force and also make them unlikely to be in the dictionary.

It's got all the other things you like, like characters and numbers.

It can actually be a lot harder to remember a password that they tell you has to be 13 characters long or something like that.

It has to have uppercase and lowercase letters and things like that than it is to remember a simple phrase like Margaret Thatcher is 110% sexy.

That is a password that not even a computer would guess.

The problem is, I'm not going to do it, because it seems hard, even though I know it isn't.


Speaker 0: Why are passwords so important? Or why is it important that we have better ones than the ones that we do have, because the ones that we do have are embarrassingly bad?

Speaker 1: Bad passwords are 1 of the easiest ways to compromise a system. For somebody who has a very common eight-character password, it can literally take less than a second for a computer to go through the possibilities and pull that password out.

Speaker 0: For an eight-character password?

Speaker 1: Right, right, right.

Speaker 0: My password is 5 characters. That's not a joke. That's bad, right?

Speaker 1: That's really bad.

Speaker 0: Okay, so which of these seem like good options? Password, but spelt W-E-R-D.

Speaker 1: This is a joke, right?

Speaker 0: No. Yes.

Speaker 1: That would be within normal password dictionaries. Permutations of common words.

Speaker 0: But it's misspelt, though, so that was the kind of trip wire on it.

Speaker 1: Right. It's still 8 characters, even if it's not within your password dictionary, which would mean it

Speaker 0: would be fairly short. Okay, okay, okay, it's a bad 1, it's a bad 1. That's why I've got some more. 1, 2, 3, 4, but spelt out.

Speaker 1: That's not going to help you.

Speaker 0: OK. Limp Bizkit forever with limp biscuit spelled properly but forever not.

Speaker 1: That's also not going to help you.

Speaker 0: OK. Really?

Speaker 1: I think The best advice here is to shift your thinking from past words to past phrases. Think about a common phrase that works for you that's too long to brute force and also make them unlikely to be in the dictionary.

Speaker 0: Admiral Alonzo Ghost Penis 420 YOLO.

Speaker 1: That's pretty good.

Speaker 0: Right?

Speaker 1: It's memorable too.

Speaker 0: Right, it's memorable. It's got all the other things you like, like characters and numbers. YOLO capital letters, obviously. I shouldn't say, now I can't use it.

Speaker 1: It can actually be a lot harder to remember a password that they tell you has to be 13 characters long or something like that. It has to have exclamation points. It has to have numbers. It has to have uppercase and lowercase letters and things like that than it is to remember a simple phrase like Margaret Thatcher is 110% sexy.

Speaker 0: Wow. That is a password that not even a computer would guess. Now you're right. Okay, I get it. I get how important it is.

I fully understand that. The problem is, I'm not going to do it, because it seems hard, even though I know it isn't.

Speaker 1: You're killing me. Sorry.

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Edward Snowden on Passwords: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)