We all know that using ‘good’ passwords for our online accounts is important. We know that they should be long, strong, and unique. But, we also have a lot of different online accounts these days too. It’s become harder to remember all the passwords we need for them. So instead of making sure our passwords are unique, we often reuse the same ones over and over. Unfortunately, that makes our accounts vulnerable to attack.

Using the same password for more than one account is like having one key to unlock every door you use.

People do get hacked, and entire passwords are often stolen in breaches. But if you can improve your password security, you can boost your protection against hackers.

Plain text or encrypted?

There is no choice here – storing passwords in plain text is not wise. It is advised to always use encryption.

Use a password manager?

If you’re worried about remembering your passwords, try using a password manager. This will store and manage your passwords for you. The password manager will be the only account you need to remember login details for.

Autofill forms

This is incredibly convenient as you do not need to enter many fields all the time. But from a security point, Tricking a browser or password manager into giving up this saved information is incredibly simple. All a hacker needs to do is place an invisible form on a compromised webpage to collect users’ login information. So, think about turning off the autofill feature in your browser settings.

No need to periodically reset your password

If You’re Still Changing Your Passwords Periodically, You’re Doing It Wrong!

Microsoft now recommends that unless you suspect your passwords have been exposed, you don’t need to periodically change them. The reason? Many of us, by being forced to change our passwords every few months, would fall into bad habits of creating easy-to-remember passwords or writing them on sticky notes and putting them on our monitors.

We all have a responsibility to keep our information secure, but remember, you can never be too safe when it comes to online security.