Combination Composition by B. Tal, CC BY-NC 2.0
Raise your hand if you have more than one technology device that you use regularly. Keep your hand up if you use the same password for several accounts. Computer safety professionals will tell you that you should use a different password for every account and regularly change that password. It’s great advice but in my experience, many people find the wide variety of accounts and passwords unmanageable.
I still recommend that you follow the expert advice on password security but if you find it overwhelming, at least do the following 5 things:
- Have a few strong passwords that you use online.
- Make passwords at least 8 characters (10 characters is even better) from a combination of letters, numbers and symbols
- Do not write your passwords down and if you store them electronically, use an obscure title for the file/email that you can recognize but others won’t. Don’t store in a visible location.
- Use unique passwords for high security activities like online banking and online shopping.
- Do not save your credit card information when you shop online unless the company has an excellent reputation and website security (https)
If you need help creating a password, visit – http://passwordbird.com/ and http://passcreator.com/. Test how strong your password is by visiting https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/security/pc-security/password-checker.aspx
If you prefer video/audio, play the video below.