7 Password Experts on How to Lock Down Your Online Security

With the era of digitalization and going cashless dawning upon the world, most people already know the basic of password security. But, along with the growing awareness, hackers’ and fraudsters’ tricks and techniques are advancing too.

Therefore, we must be extra careful while setting our passwords so as to protect them from online hackers.

Here are seven insides that will help you understand what makes passwords secure:

1. Length Matters

A password should be as long as possible. Mark Burnett, the distinguished author of “Perfect Passwords” notes that a password should be at least 10-16 characters long. It is the length which is more important than the complexity of the password. A very long password which contains only lower-case alphabets can be more secure than a combination of alphanumeric nonsense. Not only is such a password easier to remember, but it is also more difficult to crack.

2. Make It as Weird as Possible

Though it is important that your password is long, it will not be of much help if it is very simple. The more common a password is, the easier it is to crack for hackers. Passwords containing common slang or pop culture quotes and terms should be avoided because they can be easily guessed and hacked. Your password should be something unpredictable and weird. It is better to go with a random string of words from a novel, newspaper article, etc.

3. Do Not Change Your Password Too Often

You should not change your password every month. Some companies force their employees to change their passwords every few months. It is a better strategy to have password policies that require longer passwords than having your employees change their passwords every month. This encourages stronger and more secure passwords.

It is better to make a hard password one time and then stick with it. Changing your password too frequently is not only a waste of time but also quite a hassle.

4. Your Special Characters Should Never be Huddled Together

You must have noticed these days on many websites that your password is expected to be a combination of upper case alphabets, lower-case alphabets, numbers, and special characters.

This is a good way to have a strong password. But don’t huddle all of these together. Your numbers, special characters and capital letters should be spread throughout your password. They should not be simply placed at the end or the beginning. People have a tendency to put capital letters at the beginning and numbers and special characters at the end. This is a very predictable pattern, and instead of strengthening your password, it weakens it even further.

Related: How Secure are Dropbox and What Are Some Cloud Alternatives

5. Avoid Double Dipping

Having the same password for all your accounts may seem tempting because it is easier, but this very risky and dangerous. Even if you have two passwords: one for important accounts and one for unimportant accounts, it is still unsafe. If a hacker gets the password for one of your accounts, he will get access to all of them.

Therefore, always make sure you have different passwords for different accounts.

6. Layered Authentication

Passwords are definitely a great way of securing your accounts and confidential information. But it is always better to have extra security if the information is extra important. Adding extra layers of authentication such as a biometric scanner or cryptographic authorizations will make your accounts even more secure. These extra layers of protection have auxiliary benefits. For instance, a website could have a less strict passwords policy if there was added protection.

7. Do Not Panic

You might have heard that an average password can be guessed within a few seconds and that hackers make billions of guesses to hack your password. Do not let stories such as these frighten you. Your bank will not give hackers a billion chances. Within only 3 or fewer attempts, your account gets locked.

As for passwords related to websites, hackers do not make an effort beyond a thousand guesses. If you follow all the tips mentioned above, your password will remain safe in your hands only.

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