Are your passwords a mess? Do you keep forgetting and resetting them? Or worse, do you use the same password for everything? Let’s make this the year that you get your passwords under control. As mentioned in an earlier post, password management should be part of your overall online security plan.
Here are some general password guidelines:
- Set a different password for every website
- Passwords should be at least 8 characters long and include special characters (like &$#)
- Passwords should not be a common word or phrase (“ILovemydog”)
- Passwords should not contain personal information (children’s names, birthdays)
- The longer the password, the stronger. Consider using long passwords (15 characters or more) for sensitive websites like financial institutions.
- Also consider using passphrases for sensitive sites. A passphrase is a nonsensical phrase that is long (making it hard to hack) but containing words that you can probably memorize. An example of a passphrase is “preachy glutton legislate shorter monsoon author.” Here’s a discussion of how to create passphrases: How to Create a Strong Password — That You Won’t Forget
Now how on earth are you going to keep track of all these passwords? If you use only Apple devices, you might take advantage of Apple’s “keychain” technology to create and store your passwords. If you have a mix of Apple and non-Apple devices, you might consider using a password manager like LastPass or Dashlane. These password managers work on virtually every kind of device (iPhones, Android phones, MacBooks, PCs) and can create and store strong passwords for you. Let me know if you need help setting these up.
But it’s also possible to store passwords in a low-tech way. You can keep them written in a notebook, of course. But recently a client showed me her brilliant solution: she keeps them in a card file box. This makes it easy to add and update cards and sort them alphabetically by website. Worried about someone getting into your home and finding it? Put them in a cute recipe box and store it in a kitchen cupboard far away from your laptop!