We’ve all heard about hackers stealing passwords and personal data. But this is not something that should scare us if we are careful. Of course, if we use our date of birth or our phones and the street we live on as our passwords, then we are definitely sabotaging ourselves.
For example, hacking our Facebook password could mean that our password was weak and therefore the job (even of a novice hacker) was easy. It’s time to learn what to do! So let’s look at some rules you should follow for each of your passwords!
Try to have a unique one on each site
Having one password for 10 accounts is definitely not good because if a hacker finds one, he will have access to everything. In other words, we will have a problem if we use the same password for Facebook, Instagram, up to Gmail, or an online casino. In addition, we should not use passwords that can be guessed too obviously. These are your date of birth, street, phone number, or your partner’s name.
You should definitely change it and use at least 3 different ones. One for social networks, for example, one for Gmail, and one “safe” for transactions. We will certainly make it harder for hackers with different sets of passwords. So finding one doesn’t mean it will be the same for the rest of our accounts. I feel safer already!
The longer your password, the better
Hacking and password experts recommend not 8 but rather 12 characters. Usually, sites allow you to create 8-character passwords, but it’s better to do better. It’s better to go up to 12 characters, and it will become more difficult for a hacker to decipher your password. It motivates us to come up with a more substantial and imaginative code in our minds!
Making combinations
As we said, 12 characters are essential for a more secure password. However, if we put more than 12 characters of the type “constantine1993”, of course, it is still easy to find. We must use combinations. Combine upper and lower case letters or even Latin in our sentences. In fact, we are now required to put numbers, capital letters, and Latin letters in some accounts.
An ideal combination would contain 3 or 4 numbers that are not a 123-like sequence. But also three or four scattered capital letters, not side by side, and even 2 Latin. The effort for the hacker would then be greater.
Change your password often
Not every site you use will send you an e-mail advising you to change your password. Yes, Google may spot strange activity and advise us to change our password, but not everyone will! We must keep in mind that we have to change it every 2-3 months. If of course we have favorite passwords since high school and we know them by heart, it’s time to delete them! Sooner or later, there is a chance they will be hacked, and we will say goodbye to our data.
Enable dual authentication service
What does this mean? In many of the accounts we create, we have the ability to double sign in to our identity. So we receive a message on the cell phone we gave them and receive a code. We enter this code on the site, so if a suspicious connection occurs, it will ask the user to enter the code sent to the mobile!
But beware! When a site asks us a second question, such as: what is our favorite animal, what do we call our mother, or where did we study, we should not tell the truth! As obvious as it sounds, many have been hacked because they provided the real information. Finally, because they can hack into our computers, it’s a good idea to keep it handwritten.
Updates
Use automatic updates to receive the latest patches for applications, software, and operating systems.
Download only from trusted sources
Whether you want to download a minor application or use open-source software, make sure you download from reputable sites.
Look for clusters (“spyware” or “adware”) and remove them. Toolbars and plugins that change the default search engines are the biggest culprits.
Privacy settings
Don’t share any information with the world. Log out every time to see your profile the way strangers see it.
Login Notifications
Turn on login notifications to receive beeps when someone logs into your account. On Facebook, you can enable this via the security settings.