Creating a password that keeps you secure, minimizing risk of your passwords being compromised, and remembering all the passwords you have can be a real trick. So, we are breaking down everything you need to know to keep up with your password security.
Creating your passwords
Complexity:
A standard password includes uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and symbols and is more than 8 characters long. This is usually the minimum of what your password needs to be. However, for security purposes, you should be able to make it more complex than this minimum standard to ensure that your account is secure.
Readability:
For an even greater security blanket, you should not use common words, company names, or anything that is readable. When a bot or a hacker makes an attack and is trying to compromise your password, many times the first things that they try are common words, company names, or any common passwords.
Repetition:
Do not use the same password for different websites, accounts, or devices. Just because you have a complex password, does not mean that it is 100% secure on the internet. For example, a website or an application will have a database of all their customers and their information. Sometimes these websites don’t do a great job at keeping that information protected. It’s not in your control if this happens. So the best way to ensure that you aren’t leaking more information than necessary, keep your passwords completely different. That way, someone who has one of your passwords, cannot get into every account you have.
Managing your passwords
Keeping your passwords to a standard that protects you is great until you have to remember and type in every different complex password for each login you have. This, to say the least, is overwhelming. So, to make it easier for you, try an online password management system. The benefits of doing this are:
You only need to memorize one master password that unlocks the database to all your other passwords saved in the manager. Remember, make it complex!
The password manager can generate a random password up to even 24 characters long, which is unreadable, not at all easy to memorize, and is incredibly secure for you.
It connects to your browser and you can auto-fill in or copy and paste any login information you need that is saved. This way you do not have to worry about retyping a horrendously long, complicated password every time you need to get into a new account.
Many password managers can encrypt passwords that you have stored so if the information does get hacked, it is unusable. (This service you usually need to pay for)
Many of these passwords managers are free, but if you want to link the database to your phone or other devices, you can pay a monthly fee.
Check out this article that compares the top password managers of 2020:
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