Okay okay okay okay. You cannot move for Brat Summer content, for better or worse. From the viral TikTok dance and wall to wall marketing campaigns to daytime TV debates. Everyone’s at it. The colour green? Brat. The Harris Presidential Campaign? Definitely Brat. Password security? Also, unexpectedly, Brat.
It is rather uncommon that cybersecurity hits the mainstream for a fun reason. It’s a hard sell – and I should know. Outside of modern heist films and primetime crime dramas, cyber has had a less than enviable stint in the limelight. No, seriously, the ‘Cybersecurity in Pop Culture’ Wikipedia page is exceptionally bleak. But in the rare moment that there’s an intersection of my two great interests – cybersecurity and pop music – I will jump at it. It’s a venn diagram and today the Mercury Prize nominated Brat is in the middle.
“You wanna guess the password to my Google Drive,” Charli XCX laments in her song Guess. Charli has summed up a sentiment long held by hackers. We are all valuable targets for cybercriminals, just some of us are less musically inclined.
Charli XCX knows too well the importance of cybersecurity. In 2016, she was targeted by a hacker leading her to scrap an entire unreleased album. More info on that here – and it’s a chilling read. She spoke about it publicly, which, arguably, is a strong case of cybersecurity being inherently Brat. She’s still spreading the good word.
Fear not though, in the later released (UK chart topping) Guess Remix, featuring Billie Eilish, Charli states that people are “still tryin’ to guess the password to my Google Drive.” A password that can’t be guessed? Perfect! Someone self-aware enough to know people are out there guessing passwords? The unexpected cybersecurity influencer we didn’t know we needed!
Granted, it’s an easy to miss reference. I, personally, uncovered it during a karaoke session. Jaws on the floor, it struck me significantly. ‘Oh my god! You won’t believe it…’ messages sent to a handful of very niche, understanding contacts. Likely I have worked adjacent to cybersecurity for too long, but please allow, I beg, a 25 year old pop girlie the opportunity to clutch at these neon-green coloured straws. Maybe we do need to be more Brat, but not in the way you’d expect.
Weak passwords are low hanging fruit for cybercriminals. Why bother breaking a window when you left your key in the door? Passwords that contain easy to guess information, like your pet’s name or your favourite artist (sorry Charli), are considered weak and therefore insecure. The same goes for password reuse. We have so many accounts to manage that it can be easy to default to a rotation of the same three passwords, but don’t. It’s really not worth it.
So what does a good password look like? Fundamentally, a good password is over 12 characters long, a mix of special characters, letters and numbers, and only something you would know (so something really random).
Want something a little bit more demure? Try a passphrase: a combination of random words that make up a sentence that only you can remember. Feeling less creative? Try a password manager’s password generator and store your passwords there.
Finally, keep ‘em guessing, don’t write passwords down, share them with others, or store them in your notes app.
And if you’re alerted to your password being found in a breach? Change it asap. It’s not worth the risk, no matter what’s in your Google Drive. Breached credentials can be used again and again by cybercriminals in a multitude of ways. Double extortion is not Brat.
From one Charli to another, October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month (see: Cybersecurity in Pop Culture Wiki), wanna work it out – cybersecurity best practices – on the remix?
