If any of these passwords look familiar, it’s a good idea to rethink the passwords you use on a daily basis. This is especially true if you tend to use the same password across many sites, as one good guess from a hacker can lead to a breach that affects you significantly. At the very least, it’s vital that you choose a unique password for anything financial or that handles sensitive personal information.
To choose a strong password, try following our Support team’s Top Tips:
More characters equals more security
The best choice for a password is a long password. Many hackers use a dictionary based system, so combat this by combining two random words or misspelling them with numbers and special characters.
Stay unpredictable
There’s a reason that there are cliches about birthdays and first pets – this information is easier to find than you might think. The best thing to be when choosing a word to build your password around is unpredictable.
Don’t get into habits
We’re all creatures of habit. This is something that hackers love to take advantage of. They know that the password they’ve guessed for one site is likely to be used elsewhere, and will try to access other accounts with the same credentials. It’s best to change your passwords so that the same one isn’t used all over the internet.
Consider a password manager
Most people choose a repetitive, unsafe password for the simple reason that they know they won’t remember a different, complex password for every account they create. To prevent this, it’s a good idea to use a password manager that can help you keep track. You’ll be able to securely store your passwords in an encrypted program that does the remembering for you.
