Your passwords being found or hacked can lead to financial ruin. Yet many people follow practices that leave them susceptible to password theft.
It’s not uncommon for people to have their passwords next to their computer or even have sticky notes with their passwords on their monitor. Don’t be one of those people. Let’s look at how to keep your passwords safe.
Don’t Store Passwords in Your Browser
It may seem convenient to store your passwords on your browser. The only problem is that you can easily access those passwords through settings. You don’t even need a main password to see the list of usernames and passwords. If, heaven forbid, you left your laptop somewhere, someone could easily have every one of your passwords.
Don’t Write Your Passwords Down
You may see cute additions for your planner that have a space to write down passwords. This is such a bad idea. You never want to have passwords written down where someone could easily access them. A list of usernames and passwords can be gold to a robber. With that information, they could easily order from companies where you’ve stored your credit card information and access your financial accounts.
Create Strong Passwords
Another mistake people often make is to create weak passwords. It might be the name of your dog or even a favorite movie. These are so easily cracked. You want a strong password that includes letters, numbers, and special characters along with upper and lower case letters.
Use Different Passwords
It may seem convenient to use the same password for everything, but this is a huge mistake. Once a hacker has your password, they can literally access all of your accounts. Take the time to create a different password for each site that you log into.
Use a Password Manager
It's easy to tell you to create strong passwords, never use the same password more than once, and don't write your passwords down. But, how then do you remember any of your passwords when you need them? Use a password manager like LastPass. Then, you just have to remember one master password, and LastPass does the work of creating strong passwords and saving them. Plus, it's free to use.
Our lives are literally online. Photos, financial information, health records – everything is accessible online. You need to be careful to protect your passwords so that your life stays protected. Don’t make it easy for hackers to gain access.
Create strong passwords and create different passwords for each site. It takes time and you’ll need to make sure your passwords are something you can remember. However, it’s well worth it.
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