Simple math shows that a shorter password with wacky characters is much easier to crack than a long string of easy to remember words. This classic XKCD comic shows how four simple words create a passphrase that would take a computer 5. This is why the latest set of NIST guidelines recommends that people create long passphrases rather than gobbledygook words like the ones Bill thought were secure. Pro tip Use this guide to create a super secure passcode using a pair of dice. Inevitably, you have to wonder if Bill not only feels regretful but also a little embarrassed. Its not entirely his fault either. Fifteen years ago, there was very little research into passwords and information security, while researchers can now draw on millions upon millions of examples. Bill also wasnt the only one to come up with some regrettable ideas in the early days of the web, either. Remember pop ads, the scourge of the mid aughts internet The inventor of those is super sorry as well. Oh, and the confusing, unnecessary double slash in web addresses The inventor of that idea and the web itself Tim Berners Lee is also sorry. Technology is often an exercise of trial and error. If you get something right, like Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg have done, the rewards are sweet. If you screw up and waste years of unsuspecting internet users time in the process, like Bill did, you get to apologize years later. We forgive you, Bill. At least some of us do. Wall Street Journal.