Protecting Your Password

Learning Objectives Define the characteristics of strong and weak passwords. Explain the concept of password entropy and its importance for security. Identify three common password attack methods: brute-force, dictionary, and phishing. Demonstrate how to create a strong, memorable password using the passphrase method. Explain the function and importance of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Describe the role of a password manager in securing multiple digital accounts. Ever used 'password123' for an account? 🤔 Let's find out why that's the digital equivalent of leaving your front door wide open with a sign that says 'come on in'! In this lesson, you'll learn what makes a password strong, how hackers try to break them, and the best methods...

TermDefinitionExample Password StrengthA measure of a password's effectiveness against guessing or brute-force attacks. It is determined by its length, character variety (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols), and unpredictability.Weak: `cat123`. Strong: `R#andom-P!an3t-G3nerat0r` EntropyIn the context of passwords, entropy is a mathematical measure of randomness or unpredictability. A password with high entropy is much harder for a computer to guess.The password `July` has very low entropy because it's a common word. The password `8$k#Zp@v` has very high entropy because it's a random string of different character types. Brute-Force AttackAn automated attack where a program tries every possible combination of characters, one by one, until it discovers the correct password...

The Complexity Formula Strength = Length (12+) + Character Variety (Aa1!) + Unpredictability Use this formula to create and evaluate passwords. A strong password must be long (at least 12-16 characters), use a mix of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols, and must not be a predictable word or pattern. The Uniqueness Principle One Unique Password Per Account Never reuse passwords across different websites. If one site has a data breach and your password is leaked, attackers will use it to try to log into your other accounts (like email, banking, and social media). A password manager is the best tool to manage this. The Passphrase Method Combine 4+ random, unrelated words. This is a technique for creating passwords that are both very long (high str...