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How strong and secure are your passwords?

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Creating passwords that are both easy to remember and secure is an incredibly difficult task.

We have more and more online accounts and the need for different and safe passwords is greater than ever.

For many of us, this is too much of a headache.

So what do we do about it?

We create passwords that we can easily remember but are often leaving us exposed online.  Or worse still, we use the same password for each account.

When attempting to create a secure and safe password, one of the most common mistakes people make is substituting obvious numbers for letters, like 0 for o and 1 for l.  Passwords do require a mix, but it needs to be the right mix and sometimes it isn’t always necessary.

Below are a few ways in which you can ensure the passwords that you are creating, are as safe as they can possibly be.

 

 

  1. Feature the first letters of a sentence that bear some significance to you.

For example, TmndicJ would stand for ‘The man next door is called John’.

 

  1. Develop a phrase instead of a word to create a passphrase.

This could be a famous phrase from a landmark speech or a famous film.

‘I have a dream that one day’

‘Frankly my dear I don’t give’

 

  1. Combine some small words to make a longer word that have some importance or significance to you.

Examples are ‘bobandjane’ or ‘myrabbitpatch’

 

  1. Choose two words and combine their letters.

Your favourite technology or possessions could be items you can include.  An example that we have created could be ‘pneohtisveleoni’ providing a password consisting of ‘phone’ and ‘television’.

 

  1. Include the date and year in your password.

So when each month and year passes, you can alter the password accordingly.

 

You may already think that your passwords are all secure enough.  A great way to check whether they are is to go to https://haveibeenpwned.com/

This site will tell you if your online accounts have been compromised and specifies which sites have been the cause.  If you are concerned in any way about the security protection you have in place, then please give us a call.

Fifteen Digital offer useful and practical advice to businesses on how best they can protect themselves against the increasing risk from outside threats.

Contact a member of our team who will be happy to help.

https://www.fifteendigital.co.uk/contact/

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