We all know the struggle it is when our friends tell us they’ve been Hackers hacked. Even worse is when they cannot recover their account. While this is painful, it can be avoided. These hackers are not magicians. To hack into anyone’s account, they find loopholes and prey on them. Passwords have become a central target for many malicious individuals online. Because of its importance in securing your private information, you need to focus on ways to create and keep this information from others.
While it is advisable to get enrolled in job-oriented cyber security training to have a robust understanding of securing passwords, some basic tips can go a long way.
In this article, we will discuss different ways to secure your online passwords from hackers. It is very essential because exposing your details and retrieving your lost accounts from hackers may be quite difficult.
Let’s get started.
- Make use of Strong Passwords
Before you think of ways to secure your passwords, take the first and most important step. This is forming a strong password that’s quite difficult to hack or guess. There are lists of guessable words online and hackers stick to using them first when trying to attack an account. As the owner, you should come up with stronger passwords different from the guessable words. Some software applications are designed to reject simple passwords and sometimes give suggestions on characters to include for safety.
Always add numbers and special characters. Some hackers use the brute force approach where they try to log in with thousands of possible password guesses in a second. If you have a strong password, your password would not be guessed correctly. However, if you have a weak password, your password can be correctly guessed in a second.
Bottom line is the stronger the password, the less probability of its being hacked.
- Change Passwords per Account
Many individuals stick to just one password for different accounts and applications. This is done mostly to help them remember the passwords but it’s a huge risk. One account is hacked, and others can be easily accessed by the miscreants. The more you stick to just one or two passwords, the more vulnerable your information gets.
If you are scared of forgetting your password, you can store all your passwords in your Google Account or other reputable password managers online. This way, you would not need to type your password every time you need to
- Trust no one with your Passwords
When it comes to your details and passwords, no one should be trusted. Especially when you are working for a company, you should never disclose sensitive company details to anyone. You can learn more about company privacy when you enroll in job-oriented cyber security training.
Here’s the thing. The other party may not be the attacker or intentionally let your password out, however, they may be careless with it. Instead of telling people for easy remembrance or any other reason, make use of password managers.
These managers are designed to remember different passwords and their names easily. Some phones have inbuilt managers that can be found in the settings tab of your browser. This is a safer option and comes in handy when needed.
- Scrutinize all Links
Phishing is one of the numerous ways hackers get the attention of individuals. Whenever you get emails with links, verify the source before proceeding to open it. Avoid unrealistic juicy offers emails, most times, they are from hackers.
Whenever you get any mail from a popular company or individual, try to check the address properly. Sometimes, hackers use similar addresses with a slight difference that can be overlooked easily. Whenever you notice a difference in the word appearance, it’s a huge red flag, so avoid it. If you want to learn more about how to spot a phishing email, read this article that talks about it.
- Multi-factor Authentications and Biometrics
Many applications have designed better ways to keep their users’ applications away from threats. This tool is inbuilt already but needs activation from you. As you’re reading this article, use the opportunity to enable multi-factor authentication.
Multi-factor authentication is an extra layer of security that verifies that you are truly the one logging in. Most websites send a one-time password (OTP) to your mail or phone number to confirm you are the one attempting the login. It may be slightly slow before you access the account, but always worth the extra time.
Biometrics also works in securing your online passwords. Everyone has a unique fingerprint, so the system will lock out an imposter immediately. Biometrics is even safer than using passwords since they are guessed or uploaded.
- Avoid Outdated Applications
Every day, technology is improving and better ways to serve users are created. If you’re using outdated versions of applications, you’ll miss out on the updated tools. Also, using outdated applications most times gives easier access to hackers.
Updates on applications have better security measures, get them to work immediately.
- Recovery Emails
Many applications stick to using registered emails as recovery options. Whenever you forget your passwords, use the recovery option, but always remember to update and sync with other important details regularly.
- Restrict access in Settings
Lots of applications operate in the background with unlimited access to personal data on mobile devices. Now that you know about this, you need to already check for settings and change if enabled. With the settings off, you can decide when to use it and vice versa.
Conclusion
Cyber security online courses prepare you to have good knowledge about securing your information online. With the few points in this article, your password becomes free from hacking threats and this keeps your information safe as well.
Follow these tips and you’ll be sure of your data safety online.
