The era of the eight-character password is ending, reports CNN Tech. The emerging standard is a minimum of 12 characters--just like UC Davis will require for campus computing accounts starting this fall.

The campus "Upgrade to a passphrase" campaign makes the same basic point contained in the CNN article--mainly, that eight-character passwords have grown insecure, thanks to the cheap computing power now available to password-cracking hackers.

As of Aug. 23, nearly one-third of UC Davis faculty and staff have upgraded their Kerberos passwords to passphrases. The campus will begin systematically expiring the old Kerberos passwords in October.

Read more at the campus passphrase website. To upgrade now, click here, select "Change your passphrase," and follow the instructions.