Is Your Password Really Protecting You?
Editor’s note: This post was written by Danny, a blogger for Instant Checkmate, one of the world’s largest people search engines. He is passionate about writing and is currently a student at the University of San Diego studying English and Business Administration. Find him on Twitter or Google +.
Take a second to think about what your password is protecting. If someone knows that simple word they can hack your email, your social media accounts, your blog, your bank account, and much more. Your password protects your conversations, your money, your secrets, and who knows what else!
Do you think your website is too small, or your account doesn’t have enough information to be worthwhile for hackers? Many think this way, and that is exactly when one falls victim to hackers. Even simple Spotify accounts fell victim to hackers recently, putting large amounts of payment information at risk.
Cybercrime is a growing threat. Over 30,0000 websites are hacked every day, leading to an astonishing 378 MILLION victims a year.
There are a number of simple, yet crucial, steps that can be taken to protect your information, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Your password is the gate to all of your information. If it is weak, your site and your private information will fall victim to a hacker. If it is strong, you are putting yourself in a good position to fend off these cyber criminals.
Check out this infographic from Instant Checkmate, and learn the best ways to protect your information from hackers!
Hi Noemi and Danny,
I’m like, floored at some of those password choices. I mean, the number ones? Password? Stunning, and I’m shocked that people – even those with little online experience – wouldn’t stop to think that hackers and other folks are trying these simple to guess passwords right off of the bat.
Smart tips here. Go strong, or don’t even bother creating passwords at all, because folks will guess them or use programs to sniff out your passwords.
Thanks much guys.
Ryan
Part of people using the same short, simple passwords is they are lazy. They do not want to memorize long pieces of text and different ones for all the different sites. Eventually people will realize it realize it is for their safety. Thanks for sharing.
The key is to have a long password that’s easy to remember. As has been stated before in the comments, length trumps complexity in terms of entropy, and thus makes passwords harder to guess by a computer. By using common English words it makes it easier to remember for humans.