Secure or Strong passwords are very important because they prevent unauthorized access to your online or electronic accounts and devices.
Choosing or composing a very complicated and long password will make it hard for a hacker to crack it, whether by a brute-force attack (Trying every possible combination of numbers, letters or special characters) or an automated machine attack trying thousands of combinations per second to guess your login credentials.
In fact, the more complex your password or login credentials are, the more secure your account becomes. Since it’s in your account where your sensitive information are stored, you have to take time and pay attention for securing it as much as you can. It’s worth the time because the stakes are very high.
Things you should not use in composing your login credentials:
1. Do not use the same password for multiple important accounts.
2. Use a password that has at least 16 characters, use at least one number, one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter and one special symbol.
3. Do not use the names of your families, friends or pets in your passwords.
4. Do not use postcodes, house numbers, phone numbers, birthdates, ID card numbers, social security numbers, and so on in your passwords.
5. Do not use any dictionary word in your passwords.
6. Do not use something that can be cloned ( but you can’t change ) as your passwords, such as your fingerprints.
7. Do not let your Web browsers( FireFox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, IE ) store your passwords, since all passwords saved in Web browsers can be revealed easily.
8. Do not log in to important accounts on the computers of others, or when connected to a public Wi-Fi hotspot, Tor, free VPN or web proxy.
9. Do not send sensitive information online via HTTP or FTP connections, because messages in these connections can be sniffed with very little effort. You should use encrypted connections such as HTTPS and SFTP whenever possible.
10. When travelling, you can encrypt your Internet connections before they leave your laptop, tablet, mobile phone or router.
11. Do not use combinations such as 12345, combinations of phone numbers and addresses, or your personal
How Can You Create a Strong Password?
Creating a strong password is not that difficult. The best way is to use strong password generator programs or software such as 1Password , LastPass or Dashlane also offer built-in password generator tools such as Roboform, and KeepPass. Be also careful in using some online password generator websites because not all of them are credible. They migh steal your password instead.
You can also come up with your own unique way of composing a strong password with cut words, and both upper- and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols that people don’t know about you or are not familiar with. Don’t use your date of birth, home address number… etc. Remember we mentioned that using your names, child’s names, phone numbers and zip codes are not advisable. Some security experts suggest you use initials from sentences and add secret symbols and numbers to it.
You can also use How Secure is my Password? or a similar tool to find out if your password is strong enough. If it’s too easy, the meter will let you know what you can add or remove to make it stronger. Microsoft users can also use the Microsoft security password checker for this. Mac users can check theirs with the built-in Password Assistant.
Important Notice About Your Password:
Never use someone’s password.
Never disclose usernames and passwords to third parties.
Never store usernames and passwords on paper or in an unencrypted computer file.
Update your account password at least every 10 weeks.
Do not use passwords that have been used in the past.
Never provide credentials when requested through email.
Run regular virus scans on your computer.
Use two-factor authentication. With two-factor authentication, you receive a text message when you try log in from a new computer.
If you have to share a password, use a site like OneTimeSecret. This site creates a link to a page with your password info (or whatever info you choose), and once the page is viewed once, it is gone forever.
Don’t save passwords or use “remember me” on public computers.