Summary
Most people could pass a test about what constitutes good password practices, but most of us are bad at implementing those good practices.
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Transcript
Our passwords are an important part of our digital lives. They protect our online data from snoops and criminals. But many people make mistakes with their passwords. Here are five of the biggest mistakes that you might make.
For Personal Tech Media, this is Two Minute Tech. I’m Jim Herman.
First, don’t reuse the same password. With the number of massive password breaches that have occurred, that password would need to be changed regularly on each site. Use a strong, unique password for each place you have an account.
Second, avoid sharing a password whenever you can. There may be times when you can’t avoid it, but if possible, you should always create a separate user account for each person. If you must share a password, change it as soon as that person no longer needs access.
Third, don’t use any part of your name, your spouse’s name, your children’s names, or your pet’s names as your password. This information is easy to obtain, and it’s one of the first things an attacker will try.
Fourth, don’t write down your passwords on paper. A post-it note on your monitor or a notebook in your laptop bag is not a secure method to save passwords. Save them in a place where they will be encrypted until you need them.
And fifth, don’t put passwords in emails or text messages. You should never use these insecure methods to transmit sensitive data, including your passwords. Emails are often stored unencrypted, so you should not trust that you will be the only person who could read that message.