In a world where your digital identity is almost as important as your physical one, the humble password manager is your first (and sometimes last) line of defence. Defence against what? Well just in the last year, we’ve seen some of the biggest digital hacks in history, from the wannacry attack, which caused millions of companies and government agencies to be held for ransom, to the breach of over 1 Billion Yahoo accounts. Cyber crime is a real issue in the digital landscape and while there’s many aspects and tactics you can take to protect yourself. Today we’re going to focus on keeping your accounts secure, specifically your greatest line of defence – the password.
Strong Passwords
A strong password will make your account that much more difficult to hack. To create one, you should follow these rules:
- Use upper and lower case letters
- Include numbers and special case characters like ! and @
- Make them over 20 characters long
An example: hiw92#JMSK23nsi!@ki343epJu!
Now create a unique password for your 20+computer programs and online accounts. Oh, and change them every few weeks.
Are you starting to see the issue here? It’s simply not feasible for most of us to keep track of all that information in our heads.
Password Managers – which one?
Here’s where password managers come in. Password managers like LastPass and Dashlane will keep track of all those complicated passwords for you. Not only that, but through browser plug-ins and extensions they’ll automatically insert them as you browse. All you’ll have to keep track of is your master password.
Password Manager vulnerability
What if my Password Manager get’s hacked? It’s no secret that every application you use has security vulnerabilities, Password Managers included. But the alternative of reusing passwords and keeping them simple enough to remember is far more risky. No method is going to be 100% fool proof, but you can minimise your risk.
The easiest way is to always keep your Password Manager updated. New updates often include cosmetic changes, but they always include improvements to security, from patching vulnerabilities to increasing robustness.
You can also use 2-step verification. This ensures that anytime there’s a login from a new location, you’ll have to verify the login through a stand-alone app or sms.
And there you have it, your crash course on Password Managers.
Need expert advice on securing your digital accounts and systems – we can help.
