Duncan Bell Is Password Safe

Online security is a massive worry. The correct response is obvious: ignore it

Do you spend a lot of time worrying about how secure your tech is? Once, that would have meant ensuring your email account was protected by something really clever like ‘h0tmailpa55word’.

Now, it means having strong passwords for all your online activity, your thermostat, your washing machine, your TV, your kids’ toys and your smart e-pants. You’ve got smart e-pants, right?

My password collection has long since proliferated past the point where I could ever remember them all. I’ve got half a dozen that I use quite a lot, so it usually takes me no more than six goes to log on to most things. But some sites require passwords so complex, no human mind could hope to remember them. There was also that period when I used to let Apple and Google generate passwords for me, which means I need to remember streams of ASCII vomit like ‘duSi_ _o’;irl382%627ArrGh9efd’ if I want to log on to that site I once bought that birthday e-card for my mum on.