Safeguarding Your Accounts
Passwords are the key to your digital life.
There is no such thing as a totally secured password. There are only passwords that are more and less secure. A secure password is one a hacker can't easily guess or crack using software tools and one that is unique and complex. Here are a few tips, so you and your information can be kept safe.
The longer the better. Try making your passwords at least 12 characters long.
Use a Two-Factor Authentication whenever possible.
Two-Factor Authentication, also known as 2FA, adds another layer of security to any account you may be logging into. When using 2FA, you can choose two of three types of identification to provide:
- A password or pin number.
- A tangible item such as the last 4 digits of a credit card in your possession or a mobile device that a code can be sent to.
- A part of you such as a fingerprint or voiceprint.
Try using a 3 instead of an E, or a 1 instead of a L.
Choose a nonsense phrase.
Don't use commonly used passwords such as “123456”, the word "password," “qwerty”, or a word like, “monkey”. These are trivial to crack.
If you insist on using a word, misspell it as much as possible, or insert numbers for letters. For example, if you want to use the phrase “I love chocolate” you can change it to @1L0v3CH0c0L4t3!
Avoid using personal information.
Do not use your name, the name of a family member, or the name of a pet when trying to create a password. In addition to names, do not use phone numbers, addresses, birth dates, or Social Security numbers.
Do not reuse passwords.
It’s so easy to use the same password for every single website. But, it’s possible that someone working at a site where you use that same password could pass it on, or use it to break into your accounts at other sites. This leads us to the next tip.
Use a password manager.
If remembering passwords is an issue, you can use a password manager such as Norton Identity Safe to securely store your passwords.
Log out of websites and devices.
It’s dreamy to just close out of a website and the next time you go on, you’re already logged onto your account, but what could happen? Doing this allows anyone with access to your computer, legally or not, to open the browser and have instant access to your accounts on sites without entering any usernames or passwords.
Change your passwords regularly.
If creating various passwords is too difficult for you, you can simplify the process by using the Norton Identity Safe Password Generator. This will give you the option to customize your password based on length, and gives you the choice of including letters, numbers, mixed case, and punctuation.