| 02 April 2011
Posted in Tips and Tricks

We are using lknSupport as our ticket system and our users are asking some intresting questions like below

I use several web services like Gmail, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, MySpace etc and I also manage more than one Joomla! web sites. All these accounts have different passwords. But sometimes I still worry because of the sensitive and important information stored in these accounts. Should I change the passwords often? Will this help increase security and thwart the attacks from hackers? Are there any advantages in changing passwords frequently?

I think it's a good question that you must ask to yourself

Shortly, the need to frequently change your password depends on the type of account. As you probably know, not all services are the same. I mean, your online banking account should be guarded with dear life while the one at a forum is not that important or our min company web site admin panel. There is a question you must ask "is there any advantage if you change the password often?"

Before we continue let me write the disadvantages of changing passwords. (Yes. It's not a joke. Changing passwords too offen has some disadvantages)

Disadvantages of changing the password too often

On some web sites like banking or financial related , they require you to change the password every few days or weeks. Is this necessary? Is it to protect your account from hacker attacks? While you are changing the passwords, you must be beware of the dangers of changing passwords frequently.

• The new password be me easy to remember. If you are not going to remember this, This will create another problem for you
  
• Studies have shown that if people are made to change their account details too often, They use simple passwords (like 123987 or testing or 456789) which are easier to crack and offer little security and protection against hackers

A simple tip: If you are forced to change the password frequently choose two that are similar. You can then use them alternately, swapping them when required. For example, instant2006$PHP and INSTANT2006$php . Change only the capitalization and the position of the hash ($) symbol.

Do you need to change your passwords too offen? (My suggest)

Will you be able to increase account security and foil attempts by hackers if you frequently change the password? Yes . This will improve your security but  Personally I don’t see any great advantage in frequently changing the password. My suggest it choose a strong password which is easy to remember it. But if you have a tendency to share the account with others, it’s highly recommended that the login details are updated every few months.

If you ask what i'm doing, I choose new passwords every 3 months

Please remember that there isn’t any advantage in changing the password frequently if you choose simple passwords like above. The important thing is choosşng strong passwords which is easy to remember