Think Of Musk When Setting Password, Advises Uttarakhand Police. Here's Why

How often do you change your passwords? And, even if you do change them consistently, are they safe? Chances are that most people have simple passwords that are easy to decipher, placing their accounts at risk of hacking and other forms of misuse. This is what the Uttarakhand police department has spoken about in its new social media post on the occasion of International Password Day, albeit in a fun way. In fact, the police department has leaned on tech billionaire Elon Musk to drive home the importance of strong passwords.

In a tweet shared on Thursday, the Uttarakhand police department said, “This International Password Day, make sure your password is as difficult as the name of Elon Musk's son, to have optimal digital security. Stay cyber safe.”

A poster attached to the tweet contains the caption, “Elon Musk named his son  X Æ A-Xii and you cannot think of a strong and reliable password? Happy password day.”

This International #PasswordDay, make sure your password is as difficult as the name of Elon Musk's son, to have optimal digital security ???? Stay #CyberSafe#UttarakhandPolice pic.twitter.com/GHHaJv6AAx

— Uttarakhand Police (@uttarakhandcops) May 5, 2022

For the unversed, International Password Day is celebrated on the first Thursday of May and focuses on the need to improve password strength as the first line of defence against cyber security attacks. In order to drive home the importance of safe passwords, the day was set aside by Intel Security in 2013. It is also known as World Password Day.

There are various ways in which you can promote safer passwords. For instance, educating end-users about the consequences of having a weak password can help the cause. You can also use innovative tools, as the Uttarakhand police department did in the aforementioned post, to provide examples of what a potentially good password looks like. Basic rules such as abstaining from using names of family members, pet names, and birth dates as well as encouraging the use of features such as two-factor authentication, must be reiterated to users across platforms.