You need a better password and you don’t even know it

When was the last time you seriously thought about your password? Or, changed it? You can have all the firewalls and virus scanners you like, but if you haven’t got a strong password, and one that you change regularly, then you’re not safe at all.

In the last few months, I’ve been deluged with emails from friends, stating that they are stranded in a foreign country and desperately need money, or have a dodgy-looking link promising that I’ll regret it if I don’t click on it.If I believe the former email and transfer money to them, it’s just going to end up in some hacker’s bank account. And that link will probably take me to a website that will try to install malware on my computer. This has happened because my friends set their password to ‘password’ and never changed it.This also means that the person has lost complete control of their email account.It can take months to get back a hijacked email account. During this time, the perpetrators will have gone through all the messages, looking for any usable personal information, and will have also downloaded the entire address book. They will use this information to target others.The other thing that seems quite common is using the same password for every single Internet account: email, e-commerce, online banking...

Given that everyone uses multiple Internet sites and almost all of them seem to ask for a password, this might seem like a good way to not forget your password. But the downside is that if your password is cracked, all your accounts are at risk.

Poor password security is the cause for a large number of site hacks, account hijacks and data breaches, globally. You can bet that there are people who set their password to ‘12345678’ or something equally insecure like ‘qwerty’.

You will find lots of advice online about what makes a strong password. Make sure you use upper and lower case is one. Use a number and a special character like #, % is another. The problem with these is that they’re extremely difficult to remember, and with us needing at least five to 10 different passwords, things can get confusing.

Instead, choose a long password that’s made up of different random words. For an illustration of why and how this works, search for ‘xkcd password strength’. The cartoon on the page does a good job of explaining how password strength works and provides good advice on setting a strong, safe password.Next time, we’ll look at other password-related tips. Until then, please change your password to a more secure one and stay safe online!