For years we have all grown accustomed to the idea that a complex password is a better password. 

All too often this results in post-it notes on our monitors, notebooks full of passwords, and/or lists of passwords saved on our computers. We don't have to tell you that this is bad, you already know. What we want to tell you is how to stop.

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First and foremost, we'd like to recommend a strong password manager. A good password manager will keep your account information secure, allowing you to create stronger passwords without the need to remember them. We are, however, going to defer to a couple of highly reputable resources for recommendations. Both have done a very thorough analysis and deserve a read. 

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-password-managers/ 

https://lifehacker.com/5529133/five-best-password-managers

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Password Manager

If you've chosen to use a password manager, then creating a password for Ekos is easy. Simply use the random password generator included with your password manager of choice and set the character limit to something long, we allow up to 72 characters and accept all character types.

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Using the Ole' Noodle

If you are still debating the use of a password manager or have chosen to proceed without one for now, then we recommend thinking of passwords as not a single word but rather a phrase. The technical reason here is to increase entropy while still creating something you can remember. XKCD has a now famous comic explaining this idea. 

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You can create a much longer and memorable password using a few truly random words strung together than you ever could by using special characters to increase a passwords strength. If your phrase is 40 characters this still isn't as strong as a random 40-character password with special characters created by a password generator. The phrase is much easier to remember!

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Learn more about Ekos' security updates - here.