You hear us talk a lot about online security and how important it is to make sure your data and information is secure and protected online. While there are many security features of the websites you visit, one of the most important pieces of online security lies in your hands. And you guessed it, its your password. It can be easy to want to make our passwords something simple, and easy to remember. In fact, “Admin” and “Password123” are some of the most popular passwords that people use. But passwords that are straight forward, or easy to remember are often at much greater risk of being compromised.
Well today we want to give you 3 tips on how to create a great, and secure password:
Avoid Using Personal Information
When creating a password, a very common habit many people fall into is using personal information to craft it. Lets use the name of a pet as an example here. Lets say someone had a pet dog named Rex, and they got Rex in the year 2022, often times they would create a password like "Rex2022". Those passwords tend to be very insecure because the information we are using to create the password is often widely available. When crafting a password, it should be one that has no identifying factors to it, something that does not include easily guessable phrases, words or widely available information.
Know Where to Store Passwords
It can be very tempting to want to store your passwords for your devices on your computer somewhere. The ease of access makes it very convenient and easy to get to. But there are some risks to doing this. When a password is stored on your computer, it can often be vulnerable to various types of security risks. If someone gains access to your computer's files, then they ultimately have access to all of your passwords as well. On a more basic level, forgetting to lock your computer when you step away could leave the door open for someone to access your passwords on your computer if they are near you. All in all, if you are going to save a password, try to have it in a secure location, where you need to bypass a level of security to get there, like a safe, or a locked drawer.
Use Passwords with Various Characters
When creating a secure password, you want to leverage both normal and capitalized characters, as well as special characters and numbers. Try to mix these various characters into your passwords. Make them unpredictable. Use exclamation points and numbers in the middle of the words you're using, or just use a random string of characters as a password (as long as you can remember it)
All in all, the security of your passwords largely is in your own hands. Creating a strong, tough to guess password, storing passwords in secure areas, and being sure to use unpredictability and various characters within your passwords will help you create a strong, secure password.