Security is a growing concern for individuals and businesses alike in the digital age, yet at the same time Password Security is all too often ignored or not taken particularly seriously.People consistently use common phrases and number combinations for their passwords rather than setting a complex and secure password to protect their private information and profiles. As a result it is estimated that nearly 20% of all social media profiles on the internet are protected by the same 5,000 passwords. To put that into context, a moderately skilled modern hacker could use software to guess hundreds or even thousands of passwords every minute.
It is vital that individuals begin to take Password Security far more seriously and begin to use complex passwords to protect their social media profiles, email and bank accounts. A few general guidelines have developed as ways to combat password vulnerability and reduce successful hacking attempts. All passwords should consist of a character combination that follows the principles of length, width and depth. A longer password is more secure–yet often harder to remember. As such it is recommended that passwords be between 6 and 9 characters in length. Use a wide variety of characters to make your password more difficult to guess. Incorporate numbers and special characters like an asterisk. Make sure that the subject of your password has depth to make it easy to remember but hard to guess. Misspelled phrases or cryptic acronyms that incorporate the other two elements are ideal.
To craft a secure password, try starting with a sentence that you can remember. Song lyrics, personal motto, and Bible passages are some examples. Take out all of the spaces in between the words, and then start tweaking the words themselves. Change letters to numbers, remove some letters or use shorthand. Make sure to include numbers in the password, and consider adding special characters like dollar signs or pound signs. Always avoid common passwords like 12345 or the word password itself. You should also consider using two separate passwords when you log into different websites, rather than the same password recycled for all of them. Use one complex and long password for your email and banking accounts, and a less complex but easy to remember password for your social networking profiles. With a little creativity and some well placed numbers you can make your password significantly harder for hackers to crack.