By: Jessica Patterson
It seems like you need a password to do anything on the internet.
Whether it’s creating an account on social media, checking your bank account online, or trying a new app– a new account with a username and password is a requirement. These accounts protect your personal information, but it can be difficult (read: impossible) to remember the login information for every account. Most people I talk to approach this problem by reusing the same password (with slight variations) or by constantly resetting their passwords when they forget (a hassle).
Unique passwords help keep your accounts secure.
Every year, millions of people are hacked or have their identity stolen due to poor password security. Your password can be compromised in many ways. If you have a password that is common like, “password” or “123456” it will be easy for others to guess. Check to see if one of your passwords is on this list of 10,000 most common passwords. You also shouldn’t use passwords with common information like your pet’s name or your street address, because those may be easy to guess by people who know basic information about you. To keep your online information safe, each one of your online accounts should have a random and unique password. That would be impossible for the average person to remember, but a password can help.
A password manager is a great way to keep up with the passwords for all of your online accounts.
A password manager is like keeping all of your usernames and passwords in a spiral notebook and locking the notebook in a vault that you carry with you everywhere you go. But instead of lugging a heavy vault around you can access your vault through your internet browser. Generally, your password manager will have one master password that will unlock the passwords for all of your other accounts. Good password managers keep your passwords encrypted and secure.
Some web browsers like Chrome have password managers built in.
You might see your browser prompt you to save your password on card details for future use. While this may be an easy way to help you remember your passwords, I don’t recommend this method to Red Sunflower Clients. The built in browser password managers are not as secure as other options and does not come with the safety features that dedicated password managers have.
The Password Managers I recommend are LastPass and BitWarden.
LastPass keeps your passwords safe and encrypted. It will also alert you if you are using a password that is weak, a duplicate, or has been compromised in a hack. LastPass walks you through the process of improving your password security. It can also be used on your phone, tablet, and computer and is compatible with biometric login (fingerprint). LastPass is easy to use and is available for a fee.
BitWarden is an open source password manager and is completely free for personal use. It has many of the same features as LastPass including use on multiple devices and solid encryption. It also gives you the ability to host your passwords on your own service for added privacy and security.
1Password is another very popular password manager, but I have not personally tried it.
To create strong passwords use a mix of 16 letters, numbers, and symbols.
This is especially important when it comes to important passwords like your email accounts, and Password Manager Master Password.
I recommend choosing a random passphrase that is easy to remember like “Sundays are for cake”. Remove spaces and add numbers and special characters like “$undaysR4cake”.
You shouldn’t use personal information like your address or pets name in your password, because it makes it easier for others to guess.
It’s also important to change your password often and not use the same password on more than one website.
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