Privacy

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A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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How secure does your computer user login password need to be and why? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 months ago by SentientFishbowl@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I'm aware of what constitutes a decent password, but typing in 15-30 random characters each time I lock my computer screen is starting to get a bit taxing.

How secure does my user password really need to be and what are the threats to it? Does the same apply to a root-enabled user as a "regular" user when it comes to password security?

For context, my threat model doesn't need to account for real people breaking in and accessing my computer, the damage would be very contained.

Bonus question - what are the risks of having a weak password on a root user on a spare laptop on the same network as my main device that is used exclusively for web browsing? Thanks.

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[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

Physical security is more important than software security on laptops. In a public space it's enough to have a shit password as long as there is one.

For ssh ports or remote desktop connections that don't use pairing you definitely need a strong password. For local WIFI connections it's not as important as your WIFI security though.