Topic

Be different - use unique passwords

02 September 2024

It's a terrible idea to use the same password for everything. If your security is breached online the hacker will have access to all the sites you log in to. Make sure you use unique passwords.

HOW TO APPLY

Are you trying to use the same password for everything? Bad idea.

It sounds like a clever strategy to avoid forgetting which is which, but have you noticed how those online security breaches just seem to keep happening? That clever strategy of yours means that sooner or later your password to everything is going to get into the wrong hands, and then someone else has your password to everything. Not good.

Don't use the same password in multiple places

OK, so how do you remember multiple passwords?

The answer: YOU don’t, your PASSWORD MANAGER does…

Jump to the bottom for examples, videos and articles about password managers, or read on...

A password manager is like a locked safe containing a different password for every site you need one for (this is a very good thing), and it applies the right password for each site when you need it. Basically, it keeps track of all those passwords that are not your work and bank passwords. To get into your password manager, or locked safe, you use a “master” password, which should be a long and unguessable password. An odd sentence with no spaces works well - but "theywillneverguessthisone" has already been figured out, so be more clever than that.

If someone can guess your master password, they can get to all your passwords, so be diligent about that long and unguessable password.

Sometimes you can use two-factor authentication to make this master password even more secure. (Two factor authentication is a process whereby after you enter a password into the system, you then need to do something else with something you have, such as entering a code that the system sent to your (preregistered) cellphone, or entering a number displayed on a token, or inserting or touching a special USB device.)