This week’s topics
Strong passwords and password managers
- What makes a password strong
- Using a password manager
What you will be able to do
- 2.1 Explain password hygiene and 2FA.
Activity
Rate ten passwords from weak to strong.
Study materials
Further resources
- College Success, 10.6: Securing Your Identity and Accounts · PDF · OpenStax College Success (2020, updated 2023), 10.6: strong passwords and protecting accounts, pp. 318–324 · for registered students
- Workplace Software and Skills, 1.4: Password Management and Biometrics · PDF · OpenStax Workplace Software and Skills (2023), 1.4 on strong passwords and password managers, p. 47 · for registered students
- NIST SP 800-63B-4, Appendix: Strength of Passwords · PDF · NIST SP 800-63B-4 (2025), appendix on why length makes a password strong (a step up), pp. 87–89 · for registered students
- NCSC Cyber Aware: Top tips for staying secure online · PDF · UK NCSC Cyber Aware, one-page poster: three random words and password managers · for registered students
- The quest to replace passwords: a framework for comparative evaluation of web authenticat… · Open-access article · Bonneau et al. (2012), IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. Why passwords are weak and how alternatives compare. · for registered students
- Effectiveness of a protection-motivation-theory-based password hygiene training programme · Open-access article · Jiow et al. (2021), Journal of Media Literacy Education. Tests a password-hygiene training programme for young people. · for registered students
- '...no one can hack my mind': comparing expert and non-expert security practices · Open-access article · Ion et al. (2015), Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS), USENIX. Experts recommend password managers and unique passwords. · for registered students
Materials marked “for registered students” open in the student portal, which is set up as soon as you receive final acceptance.
