Does yours appear on the list?
Protecting your intellectual property with sophisticated security software and hi-tech firewalls has become exceedingly accessible. But these security measures are too often compromised due to a very elementary factor, weak passwords.
If you’re unsure of the strength of your password, the first step is to test it. There are plenty of password strength tests on the internet; here are three
- How secure is my password
- The password meter
- Password checker
(WARNING: never enter your username or email address along with a password in any password checker.)
If your password strength isn’t so great, it’s probably time to consider changing it seriously.
The top 5 common passwords
(based off edition.cnn.com 2019 annual ranking list, though a Google search tends to list the same ones for nearly all results)
- 123456
- 123456789
- qwerty
- password
- 111111
Even if your password isn’t on this list now, it might be time to think about the quality of it.
Things you must consider when choosing your new password
- Don’t use your name, user name, or a family member’s name – One of the easiest ways to access someone’s account is to guess their password. Starting with your name or the name of your nearest and dearest would be a logical place to start.
- Don’t use the same password more than once – You may have conjured a really strong password. So good that you’re tempted to use it across your accounts. However, using the same password more than once makes it that much easier for someone else to find and use it.
- Do include unique characters – the more diverse the character range, the stronger the password. You can use a password generator, like this one, that lets you choose the characters to include in your new password.
- Use a trustworthy password manager – you should stop relying on your memory for retaining all of your passwords, as this typically results in you only creating ones simple enough to remember. Instead, try a reliable password manager to store your passwords. The beauty of password managers is that they cannot see your passwords themselves. Usually, you have a master password that is used to encrypt all your other passwords, so even the software creators can’t see them.