Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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How secure does your computer user login password need to be and why? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 months ago by SentientFishbowl@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I'm aware of what constitutes a decent password, but typing in 15-30 random characters each time I lock my computer screen is starting to get a bit taxing.

How secure does my user password really need to be and what are the threats to it? Does the same apply to a root-enabled user as a "regular" user when it comes to password security?

For context, my threat model doesn't need to account for real people breaking in and accessing my computer, the damage would be very contained.

Bonus question - what are the risks of having a weak password on a root user on a spare laptop on the same network as my main device that is used exclusively for web browsing? Thanks.

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[–] scytale@lemm.ee 17 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Not a direct answer to your question, but you can use passphrases instead to make it easier and faster to type. This is assuming your only option to log on to your computer and unlock your screen is to type in your password (e.g. no biometrics or hardware token options).

[–] SentientFishbowl@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 months ago

No biometrics! Just wanted to clarify the only difficulties related to typing my password are its length

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 months ago

This is great advice! It's the easiest way to create a long and difficult to crack password! Especially good for your laptop logon where you won't have access to your password manager.