Passwords! They're incredibly important, but I find them terrible. Back in the day, when I hadn't yet passed my memory on to my children, I used to have a different password for every site. Give me 50 websites, and I’d come up with 50 different strong passwords that I could actually remember!

My system started to struggle when a website told me that my self-made system was no longer compatible. Suddenly, I had to remember two systems, then three, and then four... You can guess what happened: I completely lost track. I can hear you thinking, "Why don't you use a password manager?" Did it! And guess what... I even forgot my master password multiple times. I don’t write that password down anywhere; that's probably a habit from my line of work. Nowadays, I don’t even bother trying to remember all those passwords. Do I need to log in somewhere again? I just create a new password. As a commercial director and mother of two, I sometimes wonder if we’re not caught up in a digital farce. There I am, preaching about cybersecurity, while I’m struggling with my own passwords. Sometimes, I watch the agility of the younger generation and slowly start to feel like a dinosaur from the pre-digital age.

In my work, I see the consequences of weak passwords and poor security practices every day. Clients often ask us, "How do we ensure our employees don't get hacked?" My constant answer: "Start with a strong password, change it regularly, and use a password manager." Sounds good, right? And then I think back to myself, lying with my head on the desk because I’ve forgotten my master password once again. Fortunately, I’m not alone. From conversations with other parents and professionals, I know that many are in the same boat. We know that passwords are important, but not everyone uses a (personal) password manager. It's a constant struggle to keep them all up to date when you don't want to reuse the same passwords.