Millions of Brits aren’t paying enough attention to their passwords and a very simple check will show you just how bad your codes really are.
Today is officially World Password Day. Although that might not sound like an event to celebrate it is a good reminder to take a quick look at your online accounts and make sure things are safe. Having a strong password is vital if you want to make sure cyber crooks can’t gain access to your digital life but millions of us continue to use weak phrases and easily guessable numbers which could be putting us at risk.
A recent survey from the team at NordPass confirmed some of the most used UK passwords and it seems phrases, numbers and words such as “123456”, “qwerty” and “Abc123” remain top of the list.
It’s not surprising that many of us pick simple things to remember as we all have so many online accounts it can be impossible to keep track of which codes match which service.
However, if you haven’t switched things up in a while now could be a good time to make some simple changes. There are also some easy ways to check how secure your passwords are with websites such as security.org offering a quick checker that reveals how fast a code can be cracked.
The best way to secure your accounts is to use a code that has a mix of letters, numbers and special characters such as # or $.
Here’s a good example of how to make a standard password way harder to crack.
REALLY BAD PASSWORD • arsenal (can be hacked in under a second)
IMPROVED PASSWORD • Ar$sena1 (takes 6 minutes to hack)
VERY SECURE PASSWORD • Ar$en@l-01 (takes 5 years to hack)
If that’s got you thinking about making changes then here is some more advice to make it tougher for crooks to crack your codes.
Try and use complex passwords – Your password should be at least 20 characters long and include a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special symbols. This makes it much harder to guess than using a basic word.
Never ever reuse passwords – We all do it to save time but it’s a terrible idea. Never use the same password across multiple sites or services as that makes the life of cyber thieves so much easier.
Check your passwords – Take the time to regularly assess your password health. Identify weak, old, or reused passwords
Use a password manager – Generate and store complex and unique passwords for each of your accounts with password manager software. These will help you choose tough codes to crack and also help you remember them.
