In the modern information age, picking good passwords is incredibly important. With the increasing amount of personal data being transmitted on-line and people growing more dependent on computers to pay their bills, manage their finances and communicate with others from a distance, a skilled hacker can easily get into a system and steal personal data by utilizing a couple of common tricks. Using longer, more complex passwords and using different passwords for different systems can enhance your cyber-security. Don't think it can happen to you? Check to see if your e-mail might have been compromised by hackers on Have I Been Pwned?
1. Never write down your passwords. (At the very least, don't keep them on a post-it next to the computer.)
2. Never use the same password for more than one thing. Once a hacker has one password, they'll try it on everything.
3. Make your password unique - something only you would know or an acronym or number that only makes sense to you.
4. Make your password long. Longer passwords are harder to guess or hack. 8 characters minimum is standard.
5. When possible, a password should make use of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
6. Avoid using personal information a person might learn, like your birthday or the names of family members, as a password.
7. Consider using a password manager program.
8. Do not save passwords in your web browser, particularly on websites where you spend money.
9. Passwords are like underwear - they should be changed often.
1. Password - 9 times out of 10, this is the first thing a hacker tries. Avoid PASSWORD and P@55W0RD too.
2. QWERTY Or 12345 - Avoid any kind of sequence on the keyboard.
3. Proper Names or Dictionary Words - There are programs hackers can use to cycle through these.
4. Anything With "1" Added To The End - Password1 is not much better than Password.
5. Favorite Sports Team - It's shocking how many Texans think "cowboys" is a good password.
6. Common Words Related To Entry - welcome, login, openseasame and enter are right out.
7. Animals - dolphin, tiger, wolf and other popular favorite animals
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