Just realized my buddy's 'password reset every 30 days' advice was actually making things worse

My friend Dave (works IT at a bank in Phoenix) swore I needed to change my passwords every month to stay safe. I did that for about 2 years until I got locked out of my email after mixing up which variation I used. Now I'm reading that frequent changes just make people pick weaker passwords or reuse them - Dave's advice was actually counterproductive based on what the NIST guidelines say now. Anyone else have a well-meaning friend give security advice that backfired?

2 comments

2 Comments

wesley87318d ago

Two years of monthly resets just because Dave said so? Man, that is dedication to bad advice. I would have cracked after three months and just started using "Password1" with a new number each time. Props to you for sticking with it that long, but Dave owes you a beer for that wild goose chase.

gracecarr18d ago

23 bucks a month for that password manager, and honestly that was the only reason I kept at it. @wesley873 you're not wrong though, I almost cracked around month four and started cycling through old passwords with a "2023" slapped on the end. But Dave's whole thing about "building good habits" really got stuck in my head for some reason. The truth is I felt like a dummy every time I got that email saying it's time to rotate again. At least now I can laugh about it, but ngl I still have a mental count of how many months of my life I gave to that experiment.