EnteringPasswords:BestPracticesandTips
Enteringpasswordsissomethingwedoeverydaywithouteventhinkingaboutit.Whetherwe'reloggingintoourcomputers,onlineaccounts,ormobiledevices,we'rerequiredtoenterourpasswordatsomepoint.However,withsomanydifferentaccountsandpasswordstoremember,it'seasytofallintobadhabits,suchasusingthesamepasswordformultipleaccountsorwritingdownpasswordsonastickynote.Inthisarticle,wewilldiscussbestpracticesforenteringpasswordstokeepyouraccountssecure.
TheImportanceofStrongPasswords
Whenitcomestopasswordsecurity,thestrengthofyourpasswordiscrucial.Astrongpasswordisonethatisdifficultforotherstoguessorcrack.Astrongpasswordshouldbeatleast12characterslongandincludeamixofuppercaseandlowercaseletters,numbers,andspecialcharacters.
It'simportanttoavoidusingpersonalinformationwhencreatingapassword.Don'tuseyourname,dateofbirth,orotherpersonalinformationthatcouldbeeasilyguessed.It'salsoimportanttouseauniquepasswordforeachaccountyouhave.Ifyouusethesamepasswordformultipleaccounts,adatabreachononeplatformcouldleaveyourotheraccountsvulnerable.
TipsforEnteringPasswordsSecurely
Nowthatweknowtheimportanceofstrongpasswords,let'stalkabouthowtoenterpasswordssecurely.Thefirsttipistoneversaveyourpasswordonapubliccomputerorinyourbrowser'ssavedpasswords.Ifsomeonegainsaccesstoyourcomputerordevice,theycaneasilyaccessyoursavedpasswordsandgainaccesstoallyouraccounts.
Whenenteringyourpassword,makesurenooneelsecanseethescreen.Useaprivacyscreenorshieldyourscreenwithyourhand.Also,besuretotypeyourpasswordinaprivateareawhereyouarenotbeingwatched.Thismaysoundobvious,butit'seasytoforgetwhenwe'reinarushordistracted.
Anothertipistoavoidtypingyourpasswordonacomputeryoudon'tknowortrust.Publiccomputers,suchasthoseinlibrariesorinternetcafes,mayhavekeyloggersorothermalwareinstalledthatcancaptureyourpasswordasyoutypeitin.Ifyoumustuseapubliccomputer,considerusingavirtualkeyboardtoenteryourpassword,whichcanprotectagainstkeyloggers.
TheImportanceofChangingYourPasswordsRegularly
It'srecommendedthatyouchangeyourpasswordsregularly,everythreetosixmonths,formaximumsecurity.Whenit'stimetochangeyourpassword,don'tjustswitchoneletterornumber.Createanew,uniquepassword.Also,don'tuseapasswordyou'veusedbefore,evenifit'sbeenyearssinceyouusedit.Attackersmayhavestoredyouroldpasswordandcanstilluseittogainaccesstoyouraccounts.
Inconclusion,enteringpasswordssecurelyisessentialintoday'sdigitalworld.Byfollowingthebestpracticesdiscussedhere,youcankeepyouraccountssecurefromunauthorizedaccess.Remembertousestrong,uniquepasswordsforeachaccount,neversaveyourpasswordonapublicorsharedcomputer,andchangeyourpasswordsregularly.Keepthesetipsinmindandstaysafeonline.
