Reminder: It’s time to change your passwords. New, strong passwords can prevent bigger headaches later.
Whether you’re banking or shopping online, doing research or social networking, you need account passwords. Unfortunately, the more details you share, the easier it is for cybercriminals to use your information. One way to help keep your personal details safe is to choose strong passwords.
Here’s how:
Do not use personal information in your password. Using personal information as part of or as your entire password is a security risk. It is easy for someone to guess things like your last name, pet’s name, birthdates of family members, phone number, and other similar details.
Avoid using real words as your password. There are hundreds of tools available to help attackers guess your password. With today’s computer power, it does not take long to try every word in the dictionary and gain access to a password.
Be sure that your password is secure. You can make a password more secure by using a combination of characters. Use some uppercase letters along with lowercase letters, numbers, and even special characters such as ‘%’ or ‘@.’ (Example: C@mpuT3r).
Choose longer passwords. While it stands to believe that any password created would be secure enough and nobody should be able to gain access to it, shorter passwords are easier to remember and to decode. Though longer passwords can be harder or more cumbersome to remember for you, it will also be harder for anybody else to remember, decode, or guess. It’s even a good idea to consider passphrases instead of just one word.
Don’t recycle your passwords. Though very tempting, reusing passwords is a security risk to your account and/or personal information. If another person does get hold of your password, it is quite possible that they will try to use it on hundreds of other sites to try to access your information.
Use caution when saving your password. Most current web browsers have features to save your password for later visits. If you are not the only person who uses the computer, you may not want to save your password. Anyone with physical access to that computer will then be able to access your personal information. This is especially important for public computers such as libraries, etc.
Change your passwords often. For maximum security you should change your password(s) often.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication. MFA adds an extra step to your basic log-in procedure. The password is your single factor of authentication. Using the second factor, such as a PIN, password, fingerprint, or other identifying factor makes your account more secure.