Are my passwords secure?
After you email, buy online, and post on social media, do you ever ask yourself… “Are my passwords secure?” Learn why it’s important, and how to create a secure and easy-to-remember password for all of your accounts and online services.
Page Contents:
- Update: Passkeys!
- LastPass or 1Password
- How To Create a secure password
- Test Your Password
- Other Password Diversity
- When to share you password
- Learn More
Topic Update: Passkeys!!
Like the floppy drive, passwords are soon to be part of technology’s past.
Passwords are so yesterday. Well… almost… we still need codes and passwords for now… however there is a unified approach by all of the tech giants to use bio-metric (faceID, fingerprint, etc) logins as a replacement to passwords. To learn more about Passkeys, read more by selecting one of the Passkeys links below.
Want to know more about Passkeys?
Why I don't support
LastPass or 1Password
Having all of your passwords on a third-party system is not as secure as we need.
If a single hacker gains access to your email, they can re-set your account access. If they gain access to your 3rd-party account, they now have access TO ALL YOUR PASSWORDS.
How to create a secure password
- More than text: Strong passwords are at least 8 or more characters in length and use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols (!*@&#^$%)
- Nothing Obvious: It must not contain easily guessed information such your birth date, phone number, spouse’s name, pet’s name, kid’s name, login name, etc.
- Avoid Words: It shouldn’t contain common words such as “boat” or “cookie”. Using base words like you pet’s name, or a color, are the most insecure passwords.
- Memorable: Create a phrase, motto, or affirmation that is 12 words long. For example: “Abundance And Joy Fill Up My Heart And My Life With Energy“
- Break down your phrase to an abbreviation = aajfumhamlwe
- Make this secure by replacing with some capital letters, numbers, and symbols = A&Jf9Mh+Mlw/E .
- Differentiate: Add something into this secure string which is specific to the online service. For example, for your Apple ID, you might want to use A1 or aI – so now your password for Apple would be A&Jf9Mh+Mlw/EaP. And for Amazon maybe you would use Az so your password could be A&Jf9Mh+Mlw/EaZ.
How will I know if my password is secure?
Test Your Password: Here are some ways you can test your password. Don’t worry, they have no idea where you are using this or who you are, so it’s not collecting these to hack into your accounts. These free online services are just for testing your password.
Why Have Different Passwords For Each Service?
If you have a few, several, or many online accounts; Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, iTunes, Google, Netflix, etc you’ll want different passwords for each. If you’re using the same password on all of these accounts, you are at risk of getting your account hacked into.
Robot programs are skimming the web, looking for access into any account. ANY ACCOUNT. This can be your online shopping account, email, Facebook, whatever. When they get into one account, they will use that same password to attempt to get into other accounts. If you use a different password for each of your accounts (such as iTunes, Amazon, your mobile billing account) you’ll have less of a chance at getting hacked.
When Do I Share My Password To Customer Support?
Never… Seriously!
If you are asked to share your account info through an email from your bank, insurance company, or even iTunes or Amazon, it’s a scam. No legitimate company would ask you to breach your account security. If you suspect that there may be a problem with your account, simply go to the service directly online and log in. If there is a security message for you, it will be displayed in your account somewhere at the top of the page. Otherwise, call the company directly. Never use the link or phone number in the mysterious email.
Updates To This Article
Safari now has a very secure suggestion system which saves your password in Apple’s iCloud, and provides all of your iDevices the same access. Just allow Safari to suggest that password and you’re done. That easy. It is saved in your Keychain, accessible only by you as an admin into your Mac. Once you tie your devices with your iCloud account and then complete the verification steps, all your devices talk to each other and allow you to access all sites and services from any of your devices. Apple has won praise from privacy proponents for their efforts to encrypt their latest technologies (hardware and software). UPDATE Nov 2017: Comparitech has a couple of resources which can also help:
UPDATE April 2014: In response to Heartbleed… Here’s a great article about changing your passwords on a yearly basis. I suggest each Daylight Savings switch.
UPDATE January 2023: What is Apple Passkey, and how will it help you go passwordless?