Lesson 1: How To Set Up Strong Passwords
Why You Need Strong Passwords
The more sensitive the information, the stronger your password needs to be. By sensitive, we mean the personal or financial information scammers may want to steal such as your credit card, bank account, or social security number. Your medical files are also considered sensitive.
For any accounts online with this kind of information, you need a strong password that is difficult for a scammer to crack. We also strongly recommend that you create unique passwords for each platform you use: different accounts should have different passwords.
The longer, the better
Experts used to recommend using a complicated password so it would be harder for hackers to guess. Today, your chances of staying safe are higher when you make your password longer.
Make it hard to guess
You may know that you should combine letters, numbers, and symbols to make your password more complicated. But to make it easier for you to remember and, at the same time, harder for hackers to guess, we recommend using a meaningful phrase that substitutes letters with numbers and symbols, like one of these examples:
- @geW1th@ttitude
- WALKaM1LE2DAY
- TryBetterFailBetter
- bV1s1ble
When creating a password follow these two guidelines:
- Use other symbols that resemble letters or use uppercase letters in places that would be unusual.
- Use a saying that is familiar to you but would be hard for a hacker to guess. Some people use an opening line to a book or an inside joke.
You may want to write it down and keep it somewhere out of sight in case you forget what you’ve chosen to use as your phrase.
Reset it if you forget it
Finally, keep in mind that it’s easy to reset your password if you forget it. When you go to the website to log in, look for the “Forgot Password” link. When you click there, you will be prompted to provide your email address or answer some security questions. Simply follow the prompts to reset your password.