password

A combination of letters and other symbols needed to login to a computer system or program. It is a good idea to make your passwords as cryptic as possible to keep unauthorized users out of your personal or business files. It is also a good idea to change your passwords at least every six of months.

Historical perspective: In 2019, a 3-year-old boy disabled his father’s iPad until 2067 by repeatedly entering the wrong password, said CNN.com. Evan Osnos, a staff writer at The New Yorker, sent out a tweet asking for help along with a photo of his disabled Apple tablet. The message on the screen seemed too far-fetched to be true: “Try again in 25,536,442 minutes.” That’s more than 48 years. Apple has a security feature that locks a device after a wrong password, and the more times an incorrect password is entered, the longer the lockout time grows. The company says that users with this problem can restore an iPhone or iPad, but the process will erase all the data—bad news if it hasn’t been backed up.