You may not realize it, but sometimes all that stands between you and an identity thief is a string of 5-8 alphanumeric characters. In today’s digital world, passwords allow us to gain access to a wide variety of information. This may include personal emails, bank account info, daily news preferences and social networks. However, many people don’t realize how vulnerable they are because of the location and type of passwords they use. In fact, many people store their passwords in a text file on their computer, which is a huge security risk. Here are a few tips to help you to keep your passwords safe from identity thieves and hackers.
Choose a Difficult Password
Many people choose passwords that are easy to remember – such as their birth year, child’s birthday or the name of their high school. However, these password types are actually extremely insecure. It’s best to choose a password that is a combination of letters, numbers and alphanumeric characters. For example, you could have a password such as px8:4k9 – which is a combination of these three character types. Though these types of passwords are initially difficult to remember, they are also more difficult for a hacker to crack.
Don’t Share Your Password
Imagine that you’re at work, and you receive a call from someone claiming to be a law enforcement official. They tell you that your child is accused of downloading illegal or banned content onto your home computer, and that it needs to be investigated. They ask you for the password to login to your computer, in order to ensure that there is no illegal content. However, the person on the phone is actually an identity thief, who is attempting to gain access to your personal information. While this may sound a bit far-fetched, scams such as this one happen every day, and thousands of people per year are victims of identity theft. Never, ever give out your passwords to anyone.
For Digital Passwords, Use a Password Service
Security expert Bruce Schneier was recently interviewed about how to keep passwords safe from hackers. His advice was interesting, as was this part of his response:
“I write my passwords down. There’s this rampant myth that you shouldn’t write your passwords down. My advice is exactly the opposite. We already know how to secure small bits of paper. Write your passwords down on a small bit of paper, and put it with all of your other valuable small bits of paper: in your wallet.” - Security Expert Bruce Schneier
However, Schneier doesn’t only rely on his back pocket to protect his important passwords. He uses a free Windows password storage tool, which is called “Password Safe”. This desktop application allows computer users to store their passwords on their computer, requiring them to only remember one password in order to access their password list. Password Safe is an open-source project, and is currently released as version 3.22. It uses the Twofish encryption algorithm, which provides a high level of security for stored passwords. Because it’s free, it has been rapidly increasing in popularity among computer users looking for encryption services for their passwords.
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