With the rise of technology use, password security is more important than ever. It’s something that we all should be focused on. Keeping passwords secure protects your identity and assets. Here are a few password management tips to consider.
1 – Don’t Store Passwords in a Document
One of the most common things we come across is customers saving passwords in a Word or Excel document. Although this is better than writing passwords on a piece of paper, it’s still risky. Even if you add a password to the document itself, it can be easily hacked and is therefore NOT secure. Plus, if you lose your laptop or get a virus, your information will be lost.
2 – Don’t Email Passwords
Email is never secure either. Anytime you send your login information to someone via email, the information is at risk. If your computer or the recipient’s computer gets a virus, anything within the email history can be obtained and used by hackers. Thus, emailing password information is not a great idea.
3 -Use Online Password Managers
The best option for keeping secure passwords is to use an encrypted online password manager. The premise is that you need only remember the password to that one account and nothing else. After logging in to your password manager account, you can login to any other website with just one click. This allows you to select long and random passwords since you never need to remember and type them in when accessing your accounts. Additionally, you can access your password list from anywhere. You can also share account access without revealing the actual passwords. Click here for a list of online password managers, including LastPass and Keeper.
4 – Use Different & Unique Passwords
One of the most common mistakes that people make is using the same exact password for all accounts. Once someone figures out that one password, they can quickly and easily access everything! That’s a scary thought isn’t it? The best practice is to create a unique and random password for everything. If you use a password manager tool, you won’t need to remember those passwords anyway, so you could have hundreds of different passwords.
5 – Change Passwords Regularly
Many accounts now prompt you to change your password every few months. Even if you’re not prompted to do so, it’s a good practice. Again, if you’re worried about having to track or remember all of these new passwords, having a password manager tool is the key!
More Tips on Storing and Saving Passwords
Most people are pretty lax about password management until one of their accounts gets hacked. This can lead to a stressful and costly situation. Taking steps to protect your accounts ahead of time is so important these days. We hope the above password management tips will help you maintain a more secure password list and avoid the dangers of compromised account