Security News > 2021 > April > UK's National Cyber Security Centre recommends password generation idea suggested by El Reg commenter
Nearly a third of Britons use the name of their pet or a family member as a password, the National Cyber Security Centre has said as it advised folk to adopt what looks very much like a Register forum user's suggestion for secure password generation.
A survey of 1,282 British adults commissioned by the NCSC showed that 15 per cent used a pet's name while 14 per cent use the name of a family member as a password.
Nicola Hudson, NCSC director of policy and comms, said in a canned statement: "We may be a nation of animal lovers but using your pet's name as a password could make you an easy target for callous cyber criminals."
Uk "And follow our guidance on setting secure passwords which recommends using passwords made up of three random words."
On this one it seems NCSC have been reading The Register rather closely: the suggestion of using three words for a unique but easy-to-remember password was made by commenter Steve Davies 3 back in March last year.
Adenike Cosgrove, a cybersecurity strategist from email security biz Proofpoint, opined that passwords will probably become old hat soon, saying: "We have already seen a rise in methods such as facial recognition and other biometric authentication forms in use in place of the traditional password."
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