How to Choose the Most Secure Password
Your first pets name followed by your birth year will no longer cut it. It’s time to upgrade your password! When it comes to cybersecurity, it’s the most straightforward yet crucial step you can take, and is worth the extra effort. If, like the old me, you have one password for everything (give or take an exclamation mark on the end to spice things up) you are extremely vulnerable to having both your online and offline world messed with.
I totally get that remembering 400 different passwords, each with different characters, backstories and alphabets is not realistic. Therefore, here’s a simple guide on creating and managing passwords that actually protect.
Use a mix of characters: For starters, your passwords should contain a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. This complexity makes them harder to guess or crack.
Avoid personal information: Never include obvious personal details like your name, birthday, or phone number in your password. This goes for your close loved ones too. This information can be easily found by cybercriminals and exploited.
Make it long: The longer your password, the more secure it is. I recommend using at least 12 characters.
Don't use common phrases or patterns: Avoid common phrases, quotes, or keyboard patterns (like "qwerty" or "123456"). They're often the first things a hacker will try.
Utilise lyrics or memorable quotes: Instead, think of something that you’ll remember and codify it. For instance, if JoJo’s 2006 banger “Too Little Too Late” is still on your playlist,your spotify password might be “2L1tt132L8”
Use a password manager: Remembering complex passwords can be difficult. Make it easy on yourself by storing, and even creating them in a password manager. This might be linked to your device, email account or whatever is most secure and requires multi-factor authentication (password + thumb print or code etc) to get into.
Change your passwords regularly: I like to do a cyber hygiene review every month. Part of this is creating new passwords, especially for my most sensitive accounts.
Have fun with it! It’s worth your time. Just please don’t write them all down on an old receipt and keep them in your purse!