As the Internet gets more complicated, and reports of illegal database hacks become more prevalent, stronger and increasingly complicated passwords are no longer unnecessary. Through some simple social engineering or more advanced network cracking, clever trolls or criminals could gain access to your entire digital life, trash your precious photo or document libraries, and hold your expensive equipment for ransom.
So, what’s the solution? There are some good ones, and I’ll explain my favorites.
Setting up two-step authentication is important
This involves using your mobile device to verify a one-use password each time you log into a website. The security factor is a great way to prevent just anyone watching or recording you enter a password and replicating it later.
Using different passwords for everything
Sure, “BeesGnees23” or “supermike” are funny and totally unique, but you need to change them up, for everything, and every so often. You know how every few months, one of your Facebook buddies starts posting random, unsolicited ads for deodorant or spray tans? That’s because he hasn’t changed his account password for 6 years and someone got in. Don’t be dumb. Reset your passwords regularly.
Your password should be impossible for anyone to guess
I know, I know, you like to convince yourself that if someone truly loves you, they be able to dig into the darkest corners of their soul and guess your password after you pass away. (No? No one else? Just me, huh?) Well, if one person can guess your password, then anyone can. It shouldn’t be your name. It shouldn’t be your pet’s name. It shouldn’t be your children’s ages divided by your age, followed by “family”. It shouldn’t be anything. Your password should be a 12- to 16-digit string of randomized upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. And if you’re just about fooling the computers, studies have shown that five or side random words stuck together make some of the best software-defeating passwords.
Sure, but howwwww
I hear you, Big Chief Flying Eagle, and here’s what the whole article was about in the first place: Get a password manager. Here are my personal suggestions.
• 1Password – saves/syncs to iCloud and Dropbox, huge, responsive list of templates and a great feature set. Costs $10 for full-featured phone app, $50 for computer program
• LastPass – everything is stored on their servers, which isn’t my favorite, but it’s still secure and cross-platform. Unlike 1Password, using LastPass as a single user is free everywhere
These applications allow you to store every password you have in a single, secure, customizable environment, and access them swiftly and safely when you need them, through browser plugins, desktop and mobile devices, and now directly inside other apps.
With the latest phones and devices, signing into Twitter involves clicking a button on the browser window, typing “Twi“, hitting enter, and then hitting enter again. Bam. Everything is pre-filled. You didn’t even need to copy-paste. And when you’re ready to reset the passwords (every 60-90 days is best), you can edit the password and select “Generate”, and your perfect uncrackable password is automatically made.
Just make sure you keep your backup codes somewhere safe. Forgetting the one important password you actually do need (your Master password for 1Password or LastPass), you could become just as helpless as if you were actually hacked. Be careful, remember well, and don’t lose anything important!
I could go on, but I’ll leave you to figure out how to set up two-factor authentication. (Hint: It’s hard.)
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