[708733454927516]

New federal security guidelines are taking sharper aim at the terrible passwords we all create. The guidelines instruct organizations to stop requiring people to change their passwords so often, to stop mandating that they be complex and, at the same time, to permit a wider range of special characters in passwords-including emojis.

In its latest digital-authentication guidelines, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal agency whose security standards shape practices across government and industry, is leaning on organizations to simplify password requirements for users. The draft guidelines-a final version is due in 2025-strengthen many positions the standards institute first took in 2017.