FRAUDLIFESTYLE & TRAVEL

It’s Time to Change Your Password

A password serves as a means to protect you, your personal information and your accounts. We're sharing some password safety tips to help you safeguard your personal information and keep hackers from gaining unauthorized access to your accounts.

Create a Strong Password

Password security starts with creating a strong password, and a strong password should be at least 12-14 characters long. It should also include a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Avoid using words that are names of family members or pets, your favorite characters, or important dates like birthdays or anniversaries. Instead, get creative! For example, let’s say you love deep-dish pizza, you could use the password IL0veDeePd!sh350 — a phrase where the letters have been swapped for numbers and symbols. You even threw in 350 at the end because that’s the oven temperature for the perfect pie.

Secure Your Password

Now that you’ve taken the time to create a strong password, it’s good to know how to secure it.

1. Don’t share your passwords with anyone — not even a friend, roommate or loved one.
2. Don’t use the same password for everything. You should be creating a strong and unique password for each login you have because if a fraudster were to hack your password, they’ll likely try those same credentials on hundreds of other websites in hopes of gaining access to your accounts. This act, called credential stuffing, is extremely common, and you don’t want to fall victim to it. If you don’t want to memorize multiple passwords, consider using a password manager so you only have to remember one password to gain access to all your other passwords.
3. Change your password every quarter. Many websites these days will prompt you to change your password every few months to maintain your security. If a website you use doesn’t make you change your password, it’s a good idea for you to manually go in and change it.

Be Vigilant with Your Password

Fraudsters can try to hack your password but when that is unsuccessful, they may try to trick you into revealing it. The easiest way to protect yourself against this kind of fraud is to refrain from clicking on any links you receive via email or text. Avoid giving away password information over the phone too. Financial institutions and similar businesses will never call, text or email you asking you to tell them your password.

We hope these tips will help you feel more protected when creating or revising passwords for your online accounts. Knowing how to create strong passwords, when the appropriate times are to change them, and how to keep your passwords secure are all keys to safeguarding your online information.

Sources:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-and-use-strong-passwords-c5cebb49-8c53-4f5e-2bc4-fe357ca048eb