We have a confession to make: at least one of us at Coinmama only recently broke the terrible habit of using the same password across multiple sites. We’ve since gotten our act straight but we’re still shuddering by how vulnerable we were online.
A strong password is your first step in protecting your online information and accounts. And with so much of our lives existing online these days, including highly personal information like our financial records and medical data, proper protection is more important than ever. When creating a password, here are some DOs and DON’Ts to choosing a strong one:
Password DOs
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Create a new, unique password for every site you visit and register for.
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Use a password of at least 10 characters that utilizes a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
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Use a password manager such as LastPass to generate secure passwords for the sites you visit. Even more importantly, choose a secure password for the password manager (see above), one that you won’t forget and that you don’t use on any other sites.
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Choose a unique phrase containing several words, which can’t be easily guessed.
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Update your passwords regularly.
Password DON’Ts
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Avoid generic passwords such as qwerty123, password123, admin, or guest. Common passwords may be easy to remember, but they’re even easier to crack.
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Don’t reuse passwords between platforms and sites.
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Skip passwords that contain birthdays, family names, or other information that can easily be found online.
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Don’t assume you won’t enter your personal information on a site. It may be tempting to use a generic or reused password on a site if you think you won’t interact with it often. However you may end up entering payment information or more down the road.
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Never give your password out to anyone, including customer support teams. If a customer representative asks for your password, it’s possible you accidentally reached a scam site.
Password life hack
We know that creating a new password every time you join a new site is kind of a pain. This articleby Momo Estrella not only provides a great hack for creating new passwords, it also turns password creation into a literal life hack. Now excuse us, we have some password updating to do!
