Strong passwords
Passwords are the first step of securing any account. Here are a few tips for keeping your accounts secure:
Don’t reuse passwords across different sites
If a threat actor compromises the password for one site, they’re likely to try it on other sites. By using a unique password for every site you log into, it helps protect your accounts by preventing unauthorized login from a compromise on a different site.
Use strong passwords
A complex password is much harder for a threat actor to guess than a simple password. Instead of using a password like “fido”, after your adorable puppy, complicate the password by creating a passphrase with a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. “4TheCutestDo&Ever” becomes a much stronger password and includes lower case, upper case, a number, and a symbol. Using “&” to replace the letter “G”, and the number “4” to replace the word “for”, help to complicate the password while maintaining a phrase that’s easy to remember.
Utilize a password manager
Password managers are designed to make strong, or even complex, passwords easier to accomplish successfully. A password manager is a secure application that, at minimum, stores your username and password pairs for retrieval when needed. Some password managers include features such as autofill (where it integrates with a web browser and can automatically fill in your credentials), random password generation (this feature can create random and complex passwords), and many more. Since all of your passwords are stored in this software, it’s extremely important to keep this safe by combining it multi-factor authentication.