Password Protection – 10 Tips to Secure your Password

As per the 2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), weak or stolen passwords are responsible for more than 80% of hacking-related breaches. A strong password is a key to keep your information safe on the web. Although the most important element of online security, many people ignore the risks associated with weak passwords, which results in hacking incidents. Check the following tips for better password protection:

Create unique passwords

One should create passwords that are easy to remember but difficult for others to guess. For example, a password as simple as “abcd123′ can be easy to figure out by a hacker. Also, using your personal information such as “Jerry123” can make you lose your data in no time. So, avoid using personal information in your passwords such as your pet name, date of birth, surname etc.

Consider using an online password manager

An online password manager is a great thing to use. Since the majority of the online users have multiple web accounts such as social media accounts, e-commerce accounts, etc. , it becomes quite a hassle to remember multiple passwords.  A password manager prevents you from writing down passwords or using simple passwords for remembering easily. Compatible with both PC & Phone, these apps generate strong password quickly and remembers them for you. It also alerts you, if the right time has come to change your password. So all in all, it resolves almost all your fears related to password management.

Never share your password

Make this as a thumb rule. Make sure you don’t share your passwords with anyone even though they are your relatives, colleagues or even your good friends. You never know when a close friend could misuse your personal information. So no matter who it is, never share your passwords as it puts your data at risk.

Keep changing your passwords regularly

Changing passwords time-to-time makes your account safe and secure. How? Well, in a case where a hacker is trying to get into your system by applying password guessing methods such as brute force attack, change in the password could save you. While updating a new password, make sure it is different from what it was earlier. Do not keep chain passwords; for example, jackpot, jackpot1, jackpot2 every time you change.

You can read more here- Brute Force Attacks – How Hackers Guess Your Passwords?

Make your passwords at least eight characters long

Size matters a lot while choosing your password. The bigger, the better it is. Hence, choose a long password, which will be hard to crack. However, avoid using extremely long passwords (do not keep it more than 16 characters) as it would be difficult for you to remember.

Try using a combination of Letters, Numbers, and Symbols

Your password shall always be a combination of letters, numbers, symbols, upper case and lower case. Alfa-numeric passwords are very difficult to guess. Keep the below-mentioned points in mind while creating your password-

• Letters – A, B, C, D, e, f, g
• Numbers – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
• Symbols – @, -, _, $
• Upper Case – A, B, C, D
• Lower Case – a, b, c, d

For example, “ItIs@saFePasswoD13” could be a good combination.

Check Your Password Strength

Whenever you create a new password while signing up on a website, it will show you the password strength meter alongside. Just make sure your password strength is strong for better safety.

Use Two-factor Authentication

It is always better to go for a 2nd-factor authentication, which may be a one-time password on your mobile. There are many 2FA apps available using which you can secure your social accounts.

Do Not Make Incremental Changes

As per the stats, when it is about changing passwords due to expiration, users tend to make incremental changes to their old passwords. This information makes things easy for hackers if they are able to break the old passwords.

Never Write your Passwords

Some people have the habit of writing their passwords and other crucial information on a diary or a piece of paper which they keep with themselves, maybe in their purse or wallet. This habit needs to be changed as someone would be able to access your sensitive information in case of lost or stolen wallet.

It is important to note that practicing the above-mentioned tips would help you stay safe from different types of cyber attacks such as ransomware attacks, brute force attacks, malware attacks, etc. Stay tuned with us for more password protection tips! Also, have a look at our blog on Security Tips for Using a Public Wi-Fi.

Note- This blog post has been republished with the latest facts and statistics.