A computer scientist recently weighed in on whether people can ever truly master the online password security process.
A Georgia State University computer scientist, Xiaojun Cao, said that the problem was complex and creating more secure passwords was difficult as people find themselves trying to remember passwords for all of their online accounts.
Many people have numerous Internet accounts, from bank websites and credit card portals, to email accounts and shopping sites, some of them often duplicate the same passwords across accounts.
Cao said he recently found that the number of his Internet accounts/passwords was more than 40 and creating unique, strong passwords for even only 20 accounts, and remembering those passwords was extremely challenging, if not impossible.
Duplication yields risk, in addition to passwords that are easily cracked.
He suggested that instead of putting passwords on sticky notes or down on notepads, tools like Keepass and Lastpass, password management software are much better.
While a lot of the responsibility to keep accounts secure falls on users, a greater onus has to be on the corporations and entities running websites.