Data storage and sharing have been revolutionised in today’s digital age. Many people have benefitted from it in countless ways, unfortunately including those with less than honourable intentions.
Cybercriminals have grown in number as it has become easier for them to steal information they were not supposed to have access to in the first place. Hackers are getting more creative when it comes to breaking into systems and stealing whatever information they need.
Don’t fall victim to cyber thieves. Follow these easy steps to protect your passwords from getting decoded.
- Make it strong
In choosing passwords, you can’t get lazy and stick with the easy stuff. You must do away with passwords taken from personal information that people can relate or trace back to you. Anything from your hometown, birth date, street name or address, middle name, and information that can be obtained from public record are all bad ideas.
- Change it up
Even if you have a strong password, it can become weak and leave your accounts vulnerable if you don’t change it regularly. Keep hackers guessing and don’t let them get too close to your account by updating your passwords and making the next even stronger than the previous ones.
- Have different passwords
Multiple accounts need multiple passwords. If you have a single password for your computer, email, online banking, social media accounts, etc. you leave them all vulnerable to hacking. Imagine if someone were to crack the password of one of your accounts, all your other accounts that share the same password would immediately be at risk.
- Set tougher security questions
Security questions are meant to allow users to login to their accounts in the event they forget their passwords. The problem is, hackers can make use of this feature by bypassing the login process and proceeding to the questions straightaway. The problem with these security questions is that they are usually very easy, like “what was your first pet’s name?” or “what is your mother’s maiden name?” if you do not supply difficult answers to these questions, you’re basically handing over access to your accounts to hackers.
- Use mnemonic devices
A mnemonic device is a cool technique for remembering lists. It’s like creating an easy acronym using each of the initial letters of the word or list members in order to come up with an easy to remember phrase. Mnemonic devices are great for passwords because they are not real words. For example, Better Luck Next Time Hacker can be used as BLNTH and added with numbers to make it stronger and more difficult to hack. Try it the next time you change or assign a password, but make sure not to forget it yourself.
Image courtesy of tested.com