Don’t use the same login and password for all of your online accounts.
For many websites, many users use the same login and password. If a hacker gains access to a website, they will have your login and password for all of your accounts. This implies that you are only as safe as the website you’re visiting. While you may be very cautious and vigilant while using social media and, notably, your online banking, you may not be as concerned about local GAA websites or a small website with poor security. If you use your password on these sorts of websites and the website is hacked, an attacker now has access to your credentials and can use them on a variety of other websites to attempt to break in. Because you’re only as strong as your weakest link in this situation, the hacker would most likely use an automated procedure that can scan hundreds of websites. Sites have been hacked in the past, and people’s bank accounts have been drained in minutes, their social networking accounts have been exploited, and their job credentials have been utilized elsewhere. Make sure your passwords are unique.
Create a password that is 15 to 20 characters long and contains both letters and numbers.
Use a password that is not too apparent. Millions of passwords were taken in an attack in the United States roughly 18 months ago, and someone took it upon themselves to analyze the frequency of them. Tens of thousands of users were using passwords like ‘password123,’ ‘No more secrets,’ and ‘allow me in.’ Try to come up with something a little different, including both letters and numbers. If you have trouble remembering lengthy passwords, try using a phrase like the first letter of the first name of a player on your favorite football team or a phrase from a song or lyric you learned in school that is 15 or 20 characters long. This is far more secure and will keep the bad people out.
Don’t give out your password to anybody else.
The saying “treat a password like a toothbrush” was coined by an American researcher. Keep it to yourself and don’t give it to anybody!’
Use a password manager to keep track of your passwords.
If you’re having trouble remembering all of these passwords and are scribbling them down on bits of paper, there are easier methods to keep track of them. Password managers are a kind of application that you can download for free to your computer and phone and will remember your passwords for both devices for you. ‘Last Past’ is a popular software with an excellent free version. It will remember all of your passwords for you, so all you need is one password for ‘Last Past,’ which must be very safe since it is the master key to all of your passwords.
Make multi-factor authentication a part of your security strategy.
Authenticating oneself to a website alone using a password is not particularly safe. Multi-factor authentication is a term used in the security world to describe the ability to confirm who you are by doing more than simply entering your password. You will get a text message with a number that you must enter along with your login and password. This number will change each time, so no one can access your accounts unless they know your password and have your phone, keeping the bad guys away. This makes it much more safe than a password alone, and both Microsoft and Google offer applications you can download on your phone to use when trying to log in to a website. This provides another degree of protection by combining something you know, in the form of a password, with something you have, in the form of a mobile phone. An attacker will find it far more difficult to defeat the system as a result of this.
