World Password Week 2025: AP’s Expert Tips To Stay Safe Online

There’s a certain optimism in the way we treat passwords. A quiet belief that a familiar string of characters — the name of a pet, a birthday, a favorite band — can serve as a digital amulet to stave off hackers and anyone who doesn’t have our best interests in mind.

I’ve used weak passwords for the sake of convenience, and I’d wager you have, too. Most of the time, it works. Until it doesn’t.

World Password Week is an opportunity to pause and consider the small, invisible rituals that hold our digital lives together. The logins we breeze through without a second thought. The shortcuts we take to save a few seconds, convincing ourselves that they’re harmless. However, habits, stitched together over many years, have a way of quietly unraveling when we least expect it.

This week, we’re looking at those habits and offering practical, thoughtful ways to approach them differently. Not lectures, but real solutions: how to share your streaming accounts without handing over your password, why your dog’s name doesn’t belong in your login, what to do when your credentials show up in a data breach.

There’s no such thing as perfect security. But there are better choices. Sometimes, all it takes is seeing them through a clearer lens.

We’ll add new stories every day — tips, guides, and a few cautionary tales. You’ll find them on our World Password Week page when you’re ready to think about the words standing between you and the rest of the world.