Passwords: How Often Should You Change Them ?

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Passwords are one of the biggest blind spots when it comes to cybersecurity. Internet users still tend to be too careless with these, in particular by choosing combinations that are far too simple for experienced hackers to decipher. One might also wonder how often we should change these credentials.

And in fact, in a recently published blog post, the cybersecurity company Eset gives us valuable advice. Experts point out that in the past, it was suggested to change your password within 30 to 90 days.

This recommendation today appears to be outdated. Concretely, making a change at regular intervals will not necessarily improve the security of protected accounts. And that's a good thing, because we have so many online profiles that managing each one would be very tedious.

When should you take action ?

In addition, experts have noticed that people tend to choose weaker passwords when they have to change them often, which ultimately turns out to be counterproductive.

Therefore, it is appropriate to act on a case-by-case basis . Several examples are cited by Eset:

• If your password was compromised in a third party data breach . The supplier will inform you of this, but you can also read it on the Have I Been Pwned portal.
• If your password is too weak, you should also change it fairly quickly. This is the case for particularly strong combinations such as 12345, admin, or even azerty.
• If you have reused your password on several accounts and one of them They have been compromised. Hackers tend to use automated software that scans the Internet to retrieve new accounts.
• If you have shared your account with other people.< /li>
• If you connected on a public computer or on a third party's computer.

< p>As we can see, there are no longer really precise rules on changing passwords, but you have to keep certain reflexes in mind. Using a password manager can also help you in these steps, and we have put together a guide for you which lists the best offers on the market.

To go further on this subject, you can always reread our previous article which reviews a study carried out by the company NordPass where we learn in particular that 70% of the most common passwords used around the world this year are decrypted in less than a second by experienced hackers.

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