Password or Passphrase? 5 Reasons to Use Passphrase

As silly as this may sound, there is a debate about this topic: should I use a password or a passphrase? When it comes to your company’s data, there is not such a thing as silly. One question you might want to ask is, what is at the core of this conversation? Being hacked, that is the short, and very real, answer – not everyone is technology savvy, and many are not aware of this so, let us take a quick look at it and why the latter is more reliable.  

Password or Passphrase, the difference

To get us all on the same page here let’s define one and the other. A password is usually composed of a combination of 6-10 letters, numbers, and (hopefully) symbols. Something like “Th3B0$$” is commonly used. The passphrase, on the other hand, is a combination of the password and a more complex and humanized code. Could be something like this “I-l0ve_myYellowKat”. The keynote here is that the passphrase is way more complex and hence, so much more difficult to guess and hack. Here is the importance of this subject.  

Better than the password

There are a few noticeable benefits in using pass-phrases when keeping our data safe, some are:

• Easier to remember by the user.
• Uncommon and hard-to-guess.
• Close to impossible to guess or break.
• Security policies are easily met, ever surpassed.
• Operating systems such as Windows, Mac, and Linux allow their use.
• Up to 127 characters can be used.

Password or Passphrase? Conclusion

It is obvious that using a stronger approach to our “passwords” is the best to proceed in this online world, with such a highly populated universe of good people and cybercriminals. A few final thoughts to bear in mind though:

• Try not to use simple passphrases like “Ilovethebeatles” when by just looking at your online and social media profiles a bad actor can figure out you’re a fan of the band.
• Use things you will easily remember – no one likes to be resetting a password every week.
• Your passphrase should be 14 characters long, or more.

This strategy, simple as it is, is highly secure and will give you a valuable layer of online protection, with the added peace of mind for you and your company.  

Check out the latest user training and security awareness programs – your own personnel is your last line of defense against cybercrime.

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