In this age of the digital revolution, every person has their digital identity online. Anyone would want to secure their identities and keep their footprints safe through passwords and protection. However, there are many reasons why one would not be having good password safety habits. With technologies becoming wide and accessible to every person, there is also a high risk of digital threats to our accounts or identities. Things like breaching, hacking, and other security threats are more common than before. The major solution to this problem is to have strong passwords and keep them safe. So here are 12 tips to keep your passwords safe and secure.
1# Don’t Reuse Passwords
We know it makes it a lot easier for you to just use the same password every time, for everything. You create multiple accounts and leave a variety of digital footprints. All of these are secured by the exact same password. This is one most important tips of all the 12 tips to keep your passwords safe and secure. Reusing passwords is probably the easiest and most seamless doorway to being vulnerable. A hacker can just try out and crack one of the defaults from your accounts. And all they need to do is access or try other accounts with the same password. And just like that, this threat will corrupt your whole digital presence like wildfire. We wouldn’t want that at any cost. Hence, always try to avoid reusing passwords for all accounts.
2# Don’t share your passwords
If someone is asking for your passwords, do not share them with them. Even if they are your relatives or colleagues. Try to avoid sharing or telling your passwords to other people in as many cases as possible. Because we do not know what threat can be triggered because of this decision. Our aim is to be as safe as possible, hence, do not share passwords with anyone, at any cost. Type them down by yourself if it’s that necessary or crucial. Oftentimes, people with bad intentions will ask you for your password and you wouldn’t anticipate it beforehand. Avoid this next time as it’s not a good password habit.
3# Avoid Guessable Passwords
Almost all the time, we tend to neglect the stage of setting up good passwords for accounts. We behave as if those extra 2 minutes will waste our day and spoil our productivity. But this gives out a completely negative effect in the long term. Always try to keep good passwords instead of keeping regular, easily guessable passwords like Name123. Passwords are all about patterns. And these guessable passwords have the most probable patterns which are easy to comprehend. Hence, always avoid guessable passwords and go for a good, specific password. This extra time will save you good damage in the future.
4# Use a Password Manager Tool
There are many good password manager software tools available on the web. You can just research properly and choose a good tool that’s trustworthy and reputed. This will secure your passwords in a locked vault on the cloud so that you don’t have to worry about your safety again. You can choose various plans and talk to customer support in case you need any guidance or assistance with this.
5# Don’t write them down anywhere
We understand that it’s common for you to forget your passwords and so you need to write them down on a piece of paper or email it to yourself. But honestly, this is another way to make yourself more vulnerable to threats. This piece of paper or that email is much more accessible to people than you can imagine. Do not make this mistake. Try using tools like password manager software instead. Imagine someone finding a piece of paper and getting access to all your personals and finances within an instant. Sounds funny, but it’s dangerously true.
6# Use Random Passwords
The more randomness there is, the stronger the passwords will be. Use the most random pattern of characters and make your passwords stronger. This is because randomness in passwords is specific only to your brain, and is not easily trackable or guessable by any hackers. So this boosts your safety even more. The only aim is to avoid predictable probabilities and increase entropy in the passwords.
Let’s continue with the rest of the 12 tips to keep your passwords safe and secure.
7# Use lengthy Alphanumeric characters
Other than randomness, another key factor for safe passwords is a good combination of alphanumeric characters and length. Both of these will surely add up to securing your identities. It would be time-taking and hard to replicate long passwords that involve the combination of alphabet and numbers. This will give you leverage by making time to take and having strong walls around passwords.
8# Keep changing passwords
This might sound trite but you need to keep changing your passwords consistently, at least every month. Changing a password in an unpredictable format will keep them safe. This is a good practice to maintain safety online. Once you change an old password, it ensures that no one can get catch of the updated one so frequently. This will give you leverage.
9# Be aware of the consequences
One of the best policies to follow for safety is to be aware of the consequences of bad password safety habits. Once you understand the long-term consequences, you would never have to look back on following proper rules. Discipline and attention are much needed when creating and maintaining passwords with safety and security. You are vulnerable to threats, and hacks. Revealing one password will give leverage to them over your other passwords.
10# Combination of Capitals and Lower-case
Use a mixed combination of uppercase and lowercase characters in the random combinations of alphabet and numbers or characters. Also, use special characters that are valid for specific sites.
11# Beware of Malware
Keep a check on viruses and malware to make sure that your system and accounts are safe and secure. Use anti-malware software tools to check consistently for any sort of attacks or phishing. This will keep track of safety in all ways possible. Increase your security internally as well as externally. Always be ready and equipped for the worst cases possible.
12# Implement a 2-factor Authentication
To get ready for the worst cases, always implement a 2-step verification in your systems. This will ensure that you verify your identity personally through your trusted device as well, along with the password itself. Even if the password is stolen or lost, this will ensure that the final authentication will lie in your system, at your hands. Always keep them handy and use them to the best.
These are 12 tips To keep your passwords safe and secure. We hope you are now aware of all these types of threats and the importance of having good password safety habits in the digital world. Always make sure to keep these 12 tips in mind and always have yourself secured and equipped enough with regard to passwords. The safety of passwords resides in creating good ones, maintaining strong formats, staying unpredictable, consistently changing them, and also managing them securely. All these factors add up to the final step of having safe passwords and maintaining your digital footprints and identities in a healthy manner.
