You are not alone! Most people use the same password everywhere – home, work, Gmail, Facebook… even for banking.
Considering how many passwords we are expected to remember and use on a daily basis, password exhaustion is a very real thing. It is no wonder that when yet another prompt for a password appears, users enter easily guessed combinations like ‘abcd’ or ‘password’.
Trouble is, even if your password is making the required effort, hackers are taking a daily stroll around the internet and collecting logins and passwords as they go, from either leaked details or sites with security flaws.
Then, they will try their luck with that login/password set elsewhere. They know more than half the internet users in the world have only one password and email combination, so the chance of gaining access to your accounts is actually quite high.
Even the big names in tech are at risk of password breaches, not just because of the technology used but solely because users are careless about their passwords and tend to re-use them.
If the same password is used somewhere else, a domino effect happens when a breach is detected. One site breach follows another and another until the hacker has nothing more to gain.
The only way to break this chain reaction is to use a different password for each site!
How to create easily remembered passwords
Have a system or template for creating your own unique passwords that you will be able to remember and is not obvious to hackers.
For example:
<character><CHARACTER><sign><word><something-about-the-site><numbers><CHARACTER><character>
Which might result into something like sG#alligatorMITSG8Gs
What to do if your password has been hacked
You can check to see if any of your accounts have been compromised by entering your email address or username into a site like https://haveibeenpwned.com/
If a breach is found, you are to change ALL your passwords immediately, perhaps using the example system listed above to create a new password set. However, if you are still struggling to remember your set of passwords, consider using a secure password tracker such as Lastpass http://www.lastpass.com
For businesses, it is imperative to have a sound password policy, especially for business essential services and access. The password not only provides a form of authentication, it also serves as a means of access control. Business users must understand the dangers of password sharing and practice good password hygiene.
Should your business require any assistance changing or securing your passwords for your business technology assets, please feel free to conduct us.
Add-On:
For more on the topic of password managers, the following might be of interest:
The Best Password Managers 2018: How to Secure Your Online Accounts
ManagedIT.SG is an IT Support, IT Solutioning and Managed IT Service Provider specializing in serving Small Businesses in Singapore. Call us at +65 6748 8776 and let us manage your Small Business IT today!