In the modern world, virtually everyone needs to create passwords sometimes. Unless you’re living in a cabin in the woods and never using modern technology, you must come up with passwords to get into places like streaming services you’re paying for or your email account.
As any Melbourne cybersecurity company will tell you, there are golden rules regarding password creation, and you should abide by them. We’ll talk about some of those rules now.
Don’t Use Your Birthday
When setting up a password, don’t use your birthday as part of it. It is usually pretty easy to find out someone’s birthday, even if you don’t know them very well. You can often find that information online if you look for it.
Someone who wants access to your sensitive files via your password will think to use your birthday as part of it. Avoid that date, as it’s one of the most obvious parts of your identity that a hacker might use when password hunting.
Don’t Use Your Anniversary Date
Many individuals also use the date of their wedding anniversary when creating passwords. Like your birthday, it’s easy for someone to find out the date when you were married. It’s better to come up with numerals that don’t correspond to anything about your personal life.
Don’t Use a Pet or Child’s Name
You might use a pet or child’s name as part of your password. Again, these are words that are easy for you to remember but also easy for a hacker to guess.
Don’t Use Your First or Last Name
Don’t make up a password that includes your first or last name. A hacker will think to try those. You should even avoid using your middle name if you have one. The chances are high that a hacker will use word and numeral combinations that include all elements of your name.
Don’t Reuse the Same Password
Don’t keep reusing the same password over and over for different accounts or slight variations of those words. Come up with something unique for each account. That is your best chance at fooling hackers who might want to gain access to your personal information for nefarious purposes.
Don’t Use a Ridiculously Simplistic Password
Don’t use a password like “password123” or anything along those lines. You might be surprised by how many individuals use passwords of this sort that are very easy to guess. Doing so makes it much likelier that your vital data can be accessed and your identity stolen.
Use a Password Management Tool
If you’re going to come up with a password for your work, and you use a particular software platform to communicate with your coworkers, use a password management tool. Don’t write the password down, and store it in a document on your computer. Your IT department should be able to provide you with a password management tool that should not be difficult to learn how to use.
Following these password rules makes protecting your sensitive information much more likely.
