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Thursday, May 1 was World Password Day, which sounds like a nightmare to me, but is apparently a day intended to promote better password habits.
My password habit is to begrudgingly create one that meets all the upper and lower case, numeral and symbol requirements and then promptly forget what it was and have to go through the frustrating process of resetting my password the next time I need it. Even when I try to save them or write them down somewhere, they don’t seem to work the next time I need them.
It’s incredibly annoying and I’ve decided to reject anything that requires a password from now on, if at all possible. As a wise man named Popeye once said, “That’s all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more.”
It takes a password to access my medical records, sign my kids up for activities, help my kids with their homework, pay bills and so much more. There was a day when passwords were not necessary. Medical information came in the mail, by phone or was handed to me in person; I signed up for things on paper and did homework on paper; I paid bills with checks; and I did my banking at the bank. Life was simple.
I think the problem is that we’ve somehow come to believe that it’s easier to conduct business online. I don’t buy it.
Recently, I heard a conversation about a pay app someone used and I wondered, as I have many times before, why anyone would need an app to pay for something. Let’s say I want to buy something in a store. I could simply hand the cashier my cash and I’m done. Why would I go online, look for an app, download the app, create a username and password, and then transfer funds to that app to make a purchase? It’s too many steps and it involves a password, so I’m not doing it.
Here’s a school-related example. There was an e-learning day earlier this year. One of my children had a paper packet of homework and completed all of the required material without any issues. My other child was given instructions to log into an account with a username and password that none of us knew. The child was frustrated, the parents were frustrated and the work did not get done.
Not only is all this password business unnecessary and inconvenient, it’s less safe. Consider this. According to The Identity Theft Resource Center 2024 Data Breach Report, there were 2,525 cyberattack breaches last year that resulted in 1,229,866,035 victim notices, which I assume are those notices we get that tell us our information may have been compromised. That included five “mega-breaches” that resulted in at least 100,000,000 breach notices being issued in each event. Meanwhile, physical attacks, as in not online, accounted for just 33 breaches or exposures that resulted in 189,354 victim notices.
I think I’ll take my chances off-line. It’s not a guarantee, but the evidence shows that the odds are in my favor.