Tips on Setting a good password & safeguarding it! 5

Passwords are gateways to our digital lives, we use then to prove our identities in order to access almost everything – From our smartphones, computers, emails, social media,1,000S of applications to our homes & bank accounts. These passwords end up being breached leading to financial loss, confidential information or property.

According to Techspot.com, there were at least 1,000 password-based attacks every second in 2022. In another report by Microsoft, the tech giant revealed that the volume of password attacks rose to an estimated 921 attacks per second in 2022, an increase by 74% compared to the previous year. Microsoft defense team claimed they blocked 34.7 billion identity threats & 37 billion email threats between June 2021 & July 2022.

Before you fall victim of Cybercrime- Password attack, by a hacker, a friend, spouse or even your trusted banker with ill-intentions, here are some of the tips on setting a good password and steps you can take to ensure it’s safe.

The Do’s

1. Use long and complex Passwords -A strong password comprises of a combination on at least 8 letters, numbers and symbols in a random order, that is at least one of the following; a capital letter, a small letter, a number & a special symbol (! , @ ^*  % ) . Remember the longer the password, the harder it is to crack its combination.
2. Combine different unrelated words in your password or passphrase
3. Change your password regularly– Cybersecurity experts recommend changing your password every three months. According to Google, only 34% of their users change their passwords frequently.
4. Use Password managers- A Password manager is an application that stores password login information in an encrypted format & automatically logs you in every time you want to access various accounts or applications. It also updates and can generate unique passwords if you choose to do so. It comes in handy as it helps you not to go through the Hassle of remembering 100s passwords for different accounts & applications that need one to access them. Some of the free and paid password managers include; Google Password Manager, iCloud keychain, 1Password, Norton
5. Set-up 2 Factor Authentications (2FAs)/Multi Factor Authentications (MFAs) – This is an authentication method where a user is allowed to access a website, social media platforms & other applications by using a combination of 2 of more credentials. For instance, you can request a login code to be sent via email, phone call or sms when you log into you Facebook, Twitter and IG account, this means that, your password becomes your 1^st factor & the code your second factor. There are applications you can use as your 2^nd factor, they include; Google Authenticator, Apple devices’ in-built Authenticator, Microsoft authenticator, Step 2 (Apple application), 2FA Authenticator (2FAS) among others.

The don’ts

• Don’t use your username or your actual name in your password
• Do not Store your passwords on a computer document
• Don’t use the Word “Password”, Numerical , alphabetical or keyboard sequences- According to Google, 24% of accounts have used the word “password,” the keyboard sequence “Qwerty,” number sequence “123456” or alphalet “abcde” etc as their account password.
• Don’t use duplicate numbers (e.g 22222), keypad patterns like (Qwerty) on Smartphones & PCs
• Don’t re-use passwords across multiple accounts-Using the same password across multiple applications & websites is the biggest risk- it makes access to these applications too easy once hackers gain access to one of them. A survey conducted by google found that 65% of user’s re-cycle their password.
• Don’t share important passwords via emails.
• Don’t access important applications using Public Wi-Fi– While there are ways to safely use a public Wi-Fi, some of them may not be secure & accessing important personal or even financial information like bank applications may expose them.