In the Digital Age, passwords are an integral component of personal security, and for good reason. We use apps and websites to store everything from our bank information and hospital records to personal photos. According to Entrepreneur, in the past year alone 1 in 5 people had an account hacked, had personal information compromised, or a password stolen.
The culprit? Well, along with more advanced hackers, it might be because our passwords stink! The most popular passwords in 2014 were: 123456, password, 12345, 12345678, and qwerty. No wonder 1/5 of people are being hacked! Additionally, people use the same passwords for multiple accounts, making it absurdly easy for hackers to gain access to several outlets by cracking one password. The key to a great password is something that is personal, a mix of numbers and letters, and varied from site to site. This might sound complicated
Luckily, there are a few easy tricks you can adopt to make your passwords more secure.
1) If you’re committed to one password, incorporate the site’s name into your favorite password.
For example:
Original: Iluvdogs7
Facebook: Iluvdogs7fabo
Twitter: Iluvdogs7twit
2) Combine a number and word by alternating between the two to create a unique, un-guessable password.
For example, a zipcode and pet name: 75206 + Spot = 7S5p2o0t6
4) Simply double the password without using a space. This makes it even more difficult for hackers to break, and is still just as easy to remember!
3) Utilize an app like One Password, which assigns each of your accounts a different random, complicated password. All you need to do is log into the app using “one password”, and find the others through that.
Hopefully, with these tips, you create an unbreakable password that will secure your sensitive information.
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