Quote:
Originally Posted by Venus
Good evening ScalyFreak. I read the blog that you linked to and thank you for posting it. I change my passwords once a year to very strong passwords on most of my sites. I was surprised that you suggest changing them every few months. Would every 6 months do?  |
Glad you enjoyed the blog. I posted it because I hoped it would help people.
It depends on which passwords, and how important you think they are. I suggest every few months primarily because I learned about computer security from people who successfully circumvent it just for the fun of doing it, and because I would much rather sty safe then be sorry. I pay my bills and my mortgage online, and Amazon knows my credit card info. I would rather be overly cautious than have someone get to those accounts.
If you are already using strong passwords and don't recycle them, then you are already at less of a risk than someone who won't take that precaution, and that honestly is what matters the most. There are so many many people on the internet, that all you really have to do to survive is to make sure that someone else is an easier target than you are.
It's kind of like that old story about the school class that took a field trip to the zoo, and the hungry tiger got out. You don't have to out-run the tiger. You just have to out-run the fat kid.
I'm sure you get my point here. It's all in cost-benefit analysis. If it's too much work to get to your stuff, compared to someone who is a lot less careful, then whoever it is will go for the less careful person first.
I change my passwords every six months, so obviously I think that's sufficient. But then, I' not a high-profile target. If I suddenly became a celebrity, you can bet your hiney I'd be changing passwords way more often.