Spring is more than just a season for decluttering your closet and dusting off your bookshelves. Its arrival serves as a reminder to clean up and secure our online presence too! At ID Assist, we believe your online identity merits the same attention as your physical environment. With cybercrime on the rise and personal data increasingly at risk, sweeping the dust off your online security is crucial. More specifically, it’s time to take a close look at your passwords.
In this digital age, our online identity is just as important as our physical one. Regularly reviewing and updating our passwords is crucial to keeping that identity safe. Why? Last year, a cybersecurity firm put an AI-powered password-cracking tool to the test against 15 million passwords found on the dark web. It cracked 51% of them in under a minute and 81% of them within a month because they weren’t unique or strong enough. While the idea of using a single, simple, and memorable password for all your online accounts may seem appealing, it also simplifies the process for hackers to gain access to all your accounts.
Need a password that packs a punch?
Creating secure and unique passwords for each of your online accounts doesn’t have to be hard. Here are a few tips to help you generate robust passwords that can stand up to cybercriminals:
- Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters to make your password difficult to guess. Ideally you should use a password at least 15 characters in length to make it harder to guess or crack.
- Avoid using easily accessible personal information, such as birthdates, names of family members, or common phrases. Hackers can use this information in their attempts to crack your password.
- Create a passphrase by combining several unrelated words with spaces or special characters. You can create a passphrase by using association techniques, such as scanning a room in your home and creating a passphrase that uses words to describe what you see (e.g. “Closet lamp Bathroom Vase”). This method can produce long, strong passwords that are hard to crack but easy to remember.
- Consider using a password manager, a digital tool designed to securely store and manage your passwords. Not only can a password manager help you create strong, unique passwords for all your accounts without having to memorize them, it makes logging into your accounts super-easy!
And, out of all your accounts, be sure to pay special attention to your email account password. Securing your email account is essential for protecting all of your online accounts. Many websites use email addresses as usernames or require email verification when changing account settings or resetting passwords, making your email account a potential gateway for criminals to access your other accounts.
So, as we welcome the renewal that comes with spring, let’s also take the opportunity to renew and strengthen our online security. Remember, a secure online presence starts with strong, unique passwords. So, let’s dust off those old passwords and replace them with robust ones that can stand up to cyber threats. After all, your online security is worth it!