Hyderabad: A strong password is the first step towards ensuring digital safety and protecting online accounts. The first Thursday of May is observed as World Password Day to raise awareness about the importance of creating stronger passwords, which happens to be on May 1, 2025.
The day was created by security researcher Mark Burnett, who first encouraged people to have a ‘password day’ in his 2005 book Perfect Passwords. In the spirit of that suggestion, Intel Security announced in 2013 that the first Thursday of every May would be observed as World Password Day, and ever since, cybersecurity professionals have used the day to spread awareness about better password practices.
The first password and the first password breach
The Compatible-Time Sharing System (CTSS) computer mainframe at MIT introduced the first digital passwords in 1961. These passwords were designed to ensure privacy and protect confidential documents and sensitive information.
In 1962, the CTSS experienced the first recorded password breach. A researcher printed out the entire password file to extend his usage time on the mainframe, marking the first official cybersecurity incident.
Although the core idea of protecting information remains unchanged over 60 years later, the methods and technologies used have evolved significantly.
How to create strong passwords
Hackers and bad actors could access your passwords via social engineering techniques (phishing, coercion, or tricking users into revealing passwords), using leaked passwords from data breaches, password spraying (trying common passwords like Password1, summer123, etc), manual guessing based on personal information like pet names, brute-force attack (repeatedly attempting different passwords until one works), shoulder surfing (observing as you enter your password), and more.
Users need to be vigilant about social engineering techniques and shoulder surfing to safeguard their passwords. To save yourself from leaked passwords from data breaches, you should adopt the habit of changing your passwords at short intervals or keep an eye on breach reports or warnings from password managers to change passwords. A strong password can save you from most of the other techniques employed by cyber criminals.
To create a strong password, consider the following suggestions:
- Don't base your password on things that can be linked back to you, such as your pet's name, house address, or date of birth
- Choose a random word to base your password on
- You can also think of a sentence and select its initial letters to generate a non-existent word, which is hard to guess
- Add more layers by incorporating capital letters, digits, and special characters
Following these steps, you can generate strong passwords like — tw1@g2MwmfF$ — generated from the non-existent word "twiagtmwmffs", made by picking out the first letter of the sentence: "This weekend, I am going to Manali with my friends from school."
Should you use a password manager?
Password managers are great for ensuring you use strong passwords unique to each account and do not have to remember them all. However, there are certain risks associated with them.
Lastly, use two-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add another layer of security to your online accounts. Applications like Google Authenticator allow you to lock your digital accounts behind a 6-digit code, following the password input. From a security standpoint, it is better to use an authenticator than to use SMS-based OTP.
