Do a quick Google search for “password hacking software”, and you will be shocked (and maybe appalled) at how many people sell programs design to crack your passwords and hack your accounts. You’ll also find questions from people around the world asking, “what are the best ways to hack someone’s password?” These are the people you need to protect yourself against.
Here are the top cybersecurity factors to make a strong password and accessing your accounts:
This takes extra work on your part, for sure. But imagine what would happen if a hacker cracked just one of your passwords—a password that you use to access several different accounts. The hacker would now be free to sign in to any of the accounts using that password. Don’t make a hacker’s job any easier!
If it’s in the dictionary, it’s a real word, and it doesn’t belong in your passwords. There is an entire method of password hacking called “dictionary attack” that exploits people’s tendency to use dictionary words in their passwords.
Turn off automatic passwords, auto-login, and password storage on your web browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) Any password stored in this way can be hacked.
Don’t store any important passwords in the cloud, for the same reason as #7. Online storage is easily hacked into.
The standard recommendation is to change your passwords every 8-12 weeks. If you’re using a good random password generator to create strong passwords all the time and storing them safely (see #13), then changing passwords regularly is a good security measure. If, however, changing passwords often will just make you go back to weaker, easy to remember passwords, like your pet’s name, don’t bother. It’s better to have a really strong password and keep it forever than to have a new weak password every 3 months.
If your account has the option, turn on the 2-step verification. This adds an extra layer of security by not only requiring you to enter your password correctly but also entering a code that the system will send to your email, SMS text messages, mobile or landline phone. This way, even if a hacker gets access to your password, your account will still be protected because he doesn’t have access to your phone or email account