February 06, 2025
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How many passwords can you remember? Get ready to remember more

By Tim Johnson

This photo illustration shows a computer screen with a password question. Average consumers 5 years from now may face double the demands for passwords. (Steve Wilson)

WASHINGTON – Got too many passwords to remember? Just wait. It’s going to get a lot worse.

Average consumers 5 years from now may face double the demands for passwords, said Emmanuel Schalit, chief executive of Dashlane, a consumer password security company.

Schalit and other experts predict that passwords will explode in further use before they eventually fade, replaced by new technology.

Digital devices in homes are growing more numerous, but Schalit said the real driver behind the steady increase in the need for passwords are the sprawling number of accounts for consumers to obtain public services, interact on healthcare and education websites and deal with retailers.

“The problem is not passwords. The problem is to ask humans to memorize and manage hundreds of them,” Schalit said.

Dashlane, headquartered in New York City, estimates that the average American currently has about 200 accounts that require some sort of password identification, and that number will rise to 400 within 5 years or so.

One expert believes Dashlane’s forecast is low.

“I think they are being conservative. I think we will have more,” said Tom Galvin, executive director of the Digital Citizens Alliance, a nonprofit focused on internet consumer safety.

Some consumers simply give up at the constant demand for passwords, re-using the same password over and over again, a practice that makes cybersecurity experts cringe. If hackers compromise any single account, they can access a victim’s other accounts.

That’s why some financial institutions, big retail outlets and other businesses are moving toward biometric identifiers such as fingerprints, iris and voice scans, and facial recognition tools.

But those identifiers aren’t foolproof either.

“Your fingerprints are exposed. Your voice is exposed. The iris of your eye is exposed. … If your biometric information is stolen, you can’t replace it. … It is compromised forever,” Schalit said.

For many consumers, password fatigue set in long ago. Some simply click on “forgot password” on less-used websites and start the process over again.

#Technology