In this digital age, protecting your online accounts with strong passwords is a necessity.
By adopting safe password practices and following password protection examples, you can significantly reduce the risk of hacking and unauthorized access to your personal information.
Last year, more data breaches were reported, not to mention the 2021 T-Mobile hack that exposed more than 50 million customers' personal information.
In this article, we'll learn the essence of password security and provide you with practical tips and examples to help you create and manage secure passwords.
What Are Strong Passwords?
Strong passwords are crucial when it comes to your online security, and a distinct password is needed for each of your social media, bank accounts, streaming services, and every kind of app you're using.
But with so many accounts to keep track of, it's easy and very easy to fall into the bad habit of using the same login details for everything.
Strong passwords protect you from cyber criminals. In contrast, relying on a weak password makes it easy for cyber criminals to gain access to your accounts, steal your identity, and even take your money.
How then do you know if your password is protecting you or not?
Four Steps To Safe Password Practices
1. Don't abuse your pet or family members' names or any relatable data
It’s important to have a password that’s easy to remember. This means that people lean on readily available options such as the name of a pet, family member or favorite sports team. The problem with this kind of password is that it is relatively easy for someone to find.
Think of the number of times you’ve posted photos on social media that included a reference to your dog’s name or something dear to you. It means that the information is readily available, which will make it easier for a cyber criminal to track it down and use it to guess your password. The goal is to create a password that no other person would know or be able to easily guess.
2. Use a unique password for every of your account or device
For the sake of simplicity, many people choose to use the same password for multiple accounts and devices. The issue with it is that if a cyber criminal can guess your password on one account or device, then they can gain access to all your other accounts.
That’s why one of the best safe password practices is to develop a unique password for every account. It might be harder to remember, but it’s the best way to avoid any cyber criminals trying to gain access to your information.
3. Use one of Get Cyber safe strong password tricks.
You'd have definitely encountered passwords like “tWJKli675” on one or two occasions. Let's uncover this trick.
One of the best ways to develop a strong password is to use something so unique that only you would know it.
How does it work then? Think of a distinct sentence that only you would think of. Here's a password protection example: “I Wish Everyday Could Be A Holiday.” Then capitalize the first letter of each word and add numbers or other characters.
So we have, “IwEcBah867” There you go! You’ve got a password peculiar to just you.
4. Use two-factor authentication
If your password is stolen, you can still keep cyber criminals away from gaining access to your account with two-factor authentication. It is a security safeguard that requires you enter a second piece of information that only you have (mostly a one-time code) before the app or service logs you in.
This way, even if a hacker does uncover your passwords without your trusted device without a verification code to confirm it's really you, they won't be able to access your account.
While it is more convenient to receive these codes in a text message on your mobile phone, it's easy for a hacker to steal your phone number through SIM swap fraud and then intercept your verification code.
A much safer way to receive verification codes is to generate and fetch them yourself using an authentication app like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator. Once you set up, you can choose to register your device so you don't need to keep verifying it each time you log in.
Having learnt these safe practices, you might be wondering how then do I keep all these passwords in my memory without forgetting them or taking one for the other.
5. You can write your password down
It might sound old but security experts, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, suggest that keeping your login details in a physical notebook is a viable way to track your credentials.
Don't use an electronic document like a Word file or a Google spreadsheet, because if anyone gains access to your computer or online accounts, they can equally gain access to your electronic password file.
6. Use a password manager
You can make use of password managers like 1Password or Bitwarden, which can create and keep all your passwords safe in one place so you don’t have to go through the stress of remembering all of them.
The only exception is that you'll still have to memorize a single master password that unlocks all your other passwords.
If your password falls short in any of the above areas, it's time to reassess and create a stronger, more secure one. Take the opportunity to design a new password that meets the criteria for a robust and reliable password.
By adopting safe password practices and following password protection examples, you can significantly reduce the risk of hacking and unauthorized access to your personal information.
Stay safe online by prioritizing password protection – your personal information will be grateful.