Linux is considered one of the most secure operating systems available, above more popular options like Windows and MacOS. This is due to the security options available to all their distributions.
One of the most basic security configurations, present in every operating system, is the option to activate passwords. These become the first line of protection for your operating system.
It is the most reliable security alternative that you can have to secure the data on your computer, and in this note we will tell you everything you need to know to activate, modify and enforce your password, and protect your operating system.
Learn step by step how to change the password on your Linux computer quickly and easily
The modifying your password in Linux it is a quick and easy process.
As in many cases with Linux, all you need is to know a command:
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Access the terminal command, enter
sudo passwdand run it. -
You will be prompted to enter your new password twice, displaying the following lines in the terminal:
Enter new UNIX passwordandRetype new UNIX passwordon each line you enter the new password. -
If the steps have been executed correctly, the following command line will be displayed on the screen:
passwd: password updated successfully.
This message means that you have successfully changed your password. Note that, If you do not enter a specific user, or if there is only one user on the computer, you will be changing the root password.
Tips to create a 100% secure password for your Linux computer and protect your data
Despite the fact that cybersecurity is a very serious matter these days, many people they don’t take the time to create strong passwords to protect your data. Common combinations like your name and date of birth, or worse, “password,” will not protect your personal information. For this reason, here are some tips you should follow to keep passwords safe, strong and at hand.
Use a password generator
An online password generator is a tool that will provide you with a completely random combination of characters that will make your passwords more secure. For this we leave you the Internet password generator with which you can generate secure and strong passwords with a friendly and easy-to-use interface.
Do not use phrases or dates related to you
The use of personal data to create passwords is highly discouraged, because it only takes a little research to get this data, and passwords that include names and dates of birth are very common.
Do not use your name or that of close friends or family
In the same way as personal data, the names of close relatives and friends are a bad option to form a password. Everything that is needed in a superficial investigation to obtain the data that makes it up.
Use at least 15 characters in your passwords
It is proven that long passwords are much more secure since they represent a greater difficulty for hacking programs. Added to this, too it’s a good idea to switch between uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters.
Don’t recycle passwords
It is important to ensure that you do not repeat passwords. Using the same password in multiple accounts is an error, since violates the security of all accounts that share it if, for any reason, your password is discovered.
Use a password manager
One of the most useful functions of Google is the password manager that allows you to store all the passwords entered in the browser along with the corresponding user names. You can access the manager just by logging into your G accountoogle, before logging in on any other account through Chrome browser.
List of the best tools to improve the security of your Linux operating system
Linux has protection tools to reinforce the privacy of your files and avoid security breaches. Most of these are compatible with all Linux distributions, so no matter which distro you run, there will be a tool for you.
These are the best to guarantee the protection of your operating system:
Metasploit.com
It is a computer security software designed to detect security flaws and vulnerabilities, in addition to functioning as a penetration testing agent or “Pentesting”. Too It is widely used for the development of forms for intrusion detection software, and also has a framework subproject for the development and execution of exploits against a remote computer.
NMap.org
It is an open source tool created for network discovery and security auditing, in addition, It is widely used by many operating systems thanks to its usefulness in network management and monitoring of hosting services. Is available in Windows, Mac OS and Linux, for which it offers both the classic command system and an advanced graphical interface with tools for transferring and comparing analysis results.
Wireshark.org
It is one of the most used protocol analysis tools in the world, used even in corporate networks and government platforms for its high level of security. It offers the user clear and easy-to-read data on network data traffic.In addition, Wireshark supports more than 2,000 network protocols, among which one of the most useful is IP identity analysis.