Mail Passwords

How do I change my password?

Here’s how to change your password:

  1. Login to account.riseup.net (Rather than trust this link, you can instead go to the main riseup website, and look for the “Email” section where you can find a link to “Change my settings”)
  2. Click My Settings
  3. Enter a new password and click Save

You should change your password regularly. Pick a password that contains letters, numbers and symbols. A password should consist of more than just words from the dictionary. And do not use a password you use for anything else!

How do I pick a secure password?

Because passwords are almost always the weakest link in any security system where they are used, the first step to better security is better password practice.

Things to avoid:

  • Don’t pick a dictionary word or a proper noun! Passwords are often easy to crack because most people pick a password that is a variation on a word in the dictionary. There are simply not that many words in human languages: it is trivial for a computer to try them all! This includes words where you have replaced some letters with numbers. For example, “L0V3” is just as easy to crack as “LOVE”.
  • Don’t use the same password for all your accounts. Also, it can be better to write down your passwords in a secure place rather than use the same one everywhere.
  • Don’t forget to change your password. You should change your password at least once a year.
  • Never tell anyone your password, especially if they ask for it.

How do you create a password that is strong and yet easy to remember? This can be really tough. There are three generally approved methods:

1. Use a password storage locker

Don’t try to remember passwords. Instead, generate random passwords for all the different services and websites you use, and store them in a secure password locker.

2. Passwords

  1. Start with multiple words you can easily remember.
  2. Convert these words to non-words (for example, by taking the first letter of each word).
  3. Add a few random uppercase letters, numbers, or symbols, and you are done.

For example:

You could turn “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” into “trwNbt” and then add a few random characters for “trwNbt!42”.

3. Passphrases

  1. Pick a few random words you can easily remember. Mixing in words from different languages and non-dictionary words is a good idea.
  2. String these together into a long passphrase. This will be longer, but easier to type.

For example:

I forgot my password, what do I do?

To reset your account, you must have an active alternate email set and can use the lost password form.

My password works some places, but not others, why?

If your password works on mail.riseup.net but not with your mail client, you should check to see if you are using any special characters in your password. Some mail clients do not recognize special characters and will not work. You can change your password at account.riseup.net