Web security isn’t a topic that should be taken lightly so you need strong passwords to protect you and your data online. This short guide should help you generate strong passwords.
Change your passwords – because they are probably all too similar
Think banks, online retailers, social media, email accounts, cloud storage and any sites that might have any info saved is a potential target for hackers.
Hackers do not discriminate between big and little sites, so even if it is for an account, you haven’t used in a few years either delete the account or update your password to a strong password.
So what is a strong password?
The norm used to be people would create passwords using common words in the lives such as significant others, children, pet names and date. Given the information on social media it’s not difficult for hackers to get into your accounts – have you seen the Barclays advert?
You could create a password from random letters and numbers but not only is that difficult for you to remember many online bots are programmed to spit out random letters and numbers, so that isn’t a secure method of protecting your information.
The best method for a strong password is a string of common words that are relevant to you. For example, your favourite meal, shoe size and place you met your partner. Mush them all together, and you have a strong password.
Vary your passwords
As much as it is a hassle to remember and have a password for each different account; it is for your benefit that you do this. Consider creating sets of passwords for your primary sites (most frequently visited), secondary and tertiary sites. This minimises the risk of using the same password over and over again.
Write it down somewhere safe
Go classic and write down your passwords in a notebook in a locked draw in your desk or alternatively, you can use password storing sites like LastPass to keep your passwords safe.
We wrote a related article called “LastPass: Free Password Manager” which you may find useful. Click here to read that article.
