John Oliver and Edward Snowden tackle passwords

From the April 4^th episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

After Snowden tells Oliver an easy and effective way of making a good password:

John Oliver:

“Now, you’re right.

I get it.

I get how important it is.

I fully understand that.

The problem is, I’m not gonna do it, because… it seems hard even though I know it isn’t.”

Edward Snowden:

“You’re killing me.”

Not all people are the same, but too many people still have pretty much the same approach to passwords that John Oliver mimics in his chat with Edward Snowden.

Just like John Oliver, they’ve heard about the importance of good passwords. They’ve heard what not to do (for example, short dictionary words are no good). They’ve heard recommendations on what they should do (long phrases, unique passwords for each account, etc.). It’s even likely that they’ve heard that using a password manager will help them avoid the pitfalls, while at the same time making it easy to have a systematic approach to their own passwords.

And in their minds they respond the same way: “I’m not gonna do it, because… it seems hard even though I know it isn’t.”

Don’t be like most people. Being haphazard with your passwords isn’t tricky and it isn’t flying below the radar of the bad guys.

Protect yourself with strong passwords. It’s not hard when you use a password manager.

Watch the full episode between Oliver and Snowden here. (Note that the segment on passwords is not included in the full episode.)