Internet Safety and Passwords
One of the most important protections we can implement in our digital lives is a strong secure password. Today most of us have electronic email, social media, financial, insurance, music, video streaming, store, credit card, accounts, if not more electronic accounts than we can manage at times. All of these accounts require a password. All of these accounts recommend a strong password. If you have multiple accounts you should have a different password for each and every account. The stronger the password the less likely a hacker can crack the password and take over the account. managing passwords can be a huge chore. This is where a password manager app can help. There are hundreds of password manager apps available. Some are really good, some are mediocre. Below you’ll find an URL that provides a starting point to look at password managers. Many offer free trials so you can try them out before you buy.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/password-managers
SSCM does not make any recommendations and you should do your own research to determine which on works best for you. You can also search for “password managers” at google.com or your favorite search engine .
One of the concerns that people often have when it comes to creating strong passwords is a fear of forgetting them, particularly when there are many to remember. You should try to think of something that will be easy for you to memorize but difficult for a hacker to break into. One way to do that is to turn a sentence or phrase into something that is not easily recognized by others. For example, take a phrase from your favorite book, movie or song, like “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered” and take out the vowels,” ncpnmdnghtdrrwhlpndrd”. All though you as the user will remember the phrase and the missing vowels, a hacker and any of the cracking tools they may use will have a nearly impossible task of figuring out the password. If the previous one looks too difficult, a shorter version of the same phrase will work ok too. The key is you have a minimum of 8 characters or more in the password, have at least one UPPER Case character, at least one number and if the site allows it special character. An example of this format would be ” 0nc#up0n@m1dn!ghtdr@#ry”. Once again the difficulty factor goes up and the hacker moves on to an easier target. Many electronic accounts are recommending 12 or more characters.
Here are some key points of password security that users must know in order to reduce the likelihood of a hacker cracking their password and thus gaining access to their device.
Most importantly, passwords must be long and complex. Long and complex passwords require more effort and time for a hacker to guess.
Passwords should contain a minimum of eight or more characters and have a combination of special characters such as hash tag or pound sign, percent signs, and parentheses, as well as upper-case and lower-case letters and numbers.
Users should never write down their passwords, as that makes it easier for the passwords to be stolen and used by someone else.
Also, never use the same password for two or more accounts or devices, as hackers who break into one will often try to use the same password to take control of other accounts. Never share your password with anyone, the exception would be your spouse or someone you trust in case of an emergency.
As mentioned above, most people have multiple electronic accounts. Password management becomes a huge burden. Most of us will write down the passwords someplace “SAFE”. This poses a security risk and if you travel and forget the written list, it immediately becomes a hassle. Having the passwords on your device is a problem. One solution is to use a secure password manager app. whether on a computer or smartphone. Many password managers have the capability of working across multiple devices making remembering password less of a chore. You create your password manager account and secure password for it and then all you need to remember the master password, the password manager app then it will assist you with getting necessary account password.
Below you’ll find an URL that provides a starting point to look at password managers.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/internet/password-managers
You can also search for “password managers” at google.com or your favorite search engine .