When it comes to internet security, one of the best ways to protect yourself is to choose a secure password. This is easier said than done. Many internet users choose passwords related to them and easy to remember. This makes it quicker to remember your logins on sites like Amazon, your bank, and more. For hackers, this makes it that much more efficient to hack you and gain access to your sensitive information. If you’re using the internet for anything, no matter how harmless it may seem, you need to choose a secure password. Here are a few tips for doing just that.
3 Tips to Store and Choose a Secure Password
Never, ever use personal information
When you choose a password, never use any sort of personal information to make it easier to remember. This includes things like the names of your family, friends, coworkers or pets. This includes birthdays, holidays, or other dates of significance. Your password needs to be so far disconnected from you that people you see every day, or hackers, can’t guess it.
Expert Tip: Browse the worst passwords of 2016 to get an idea of how stupid people can be when creating passwords. Then, don’t do what these people are doing.
Be cautious about password generators
Password generators are a blessing and a curse. When used properly, they can make it easy to create a hard to guess password but most internet users don’t use them correctly. While many of these sites boast they don’t save data, most do. That means every password you create can be traced back to your IP address if a hacker hacks the password generator site and makes the effort. While this may seem like a lot of work for your password, it’s enough that you should be cautious when using password generators online.
Expert Tip: I recommend using a password generator but removing three to four of the letters/symbols from the password as the actual password you use.
Store your passwords offline
Even I use a password manager, and the cloud, to manage my passwords but this isn’t the most secure way to remember them. Storing them on your computer offline isn’t the best idea either, because if your computer is compromised, hackers can find your passwords. The only way to secure the passwords you choose to use is to store them offline in a notebook. This may seem outdated but how is a hacker going to be able to get access to your passwords in a notebook?
Expert Tip: If you choose to use a password manager, make sure to choose a password for it that’s as unbreakable as possible.
When you choose a secure password and store it, you’re doing the best you can from letting your sensitive information get into the hands of hackers and those around you. Take the time to choose a secure password even if it’s an inconvenience to you; the inconvenience of being hacked can be catastrophic.
