FTC Recommends to NOT Change Your Password Frequently

There is no doubt that life itself is a challenge with inevitable unfairness. At times, life throws us a few curve balls when we are told to do something that goes against what we were initially taught repeatedly. Surprisingly, in what appears to be rather contradictory to what we have been told to do, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is recommending that we not change our password frequently.

I know, you're probably just like us in thinking that the FTC has lost its mind or discovered some hacker loophole that exposes passwords each time we change them. While such thought is convenient, that's not the case.

From time to time, we are instructed or prompted to change our passwords, as many corporations, school accounts and other account holders will require a password update every so often.

In a surprising statement made by FTC's Chief Technologist, Lorrie Cranor, she said, "I have heard from many users that they include the month (and sometimes year) of the password change in their passwords as a simple way to remember frequently changed passwords."

Take her words for what you will; the comment was allegedly part of what she was saying when discussing the fact that people who are prompted to change their passwords frequently fail to use strong passwords. Just think, you are prompted to change your password each month, twelve times each year. With so many password changes you tend to forget the latest change, and you may resort to making life easier for yourself by creating a new password that is simple, easy to remember. Most people will naturally select a password like 01234 or use the next set of sequenced numbers next month. How does "6789" sound? The fundamentals here will relish an easy task for a hacker to guess your password.

While anyone could quickly take Cranor's suggestion out of context, it all comes down to the understanding of how people function when they are forced to perform an action that may result in a poor choice.

We can all conclude that changing passwords less frequently would permit a higher percentage of people using a secure and strong password, instead of one created on a whim all because they were forced to do so repeatedly. By nature, many humans exhibit some degree of laziness, and there isn't much anyone can do about it.

For many, especially those who work in the digital marketing field in information technology, the idea of NOT changing your password will be a hard pill to swallow. Those who make a living over the Internet in some capacity often utilize multiple accounts that all require passwords. Having to change those passwords at a high frequency may only prove to be beneficial when there is a known security breach or hacking attempt. Only requiring a password change every quarter or month may play into the very thoughts of the FTC.

Regardless of your password situation and change frequency, we sill suggest that computer users always utilize a strong password and change it as often as necessary to thwart hacking attacks. Even though there are now several shades of grey throw into the idea of changing your password often or not, we must all take ownership and responsibility for safeguarding our self-interest, even if it requires changing your password often or following the new recommendation from the FTC's Chief Technologist. The choice is yours, choose wisely!