Why Your Password Is Bad

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 21:03:18 -0600

We all have online accounts. Not only do we have online accounts, we have dozens if not hundreds, and most, if not all, require us to have a password. As a result, we often find ourselves reusing passwords (we are all guilty of it including myself). Sometimes, you think you're clever and change one character or two to say one step ahead of the hackers, but unfortunately while one or two characters may stump a human, a computer will barely notice as it runs through thousands of password possibilities a second. So, what can you do to make sure that your data stays safe online? Below I have outlined some guidelines for creating and storing a strong password.

Creating a good password

Below is a list of best practices and common mistakes people make:

Storing your good password

Now you have a good strong password, but chances are, if you followed the previous section, you will have a hard time remembering it. To remedy this, most people will jot their passwords down on a post-it note and stick it to their computer monitor; another popular option is sticking all of your login information into an Excel spreadsheet'; finally, most people just let their browsers save their passwords for them. All of these options are quite risky for a verity of reasons, but for the sake of brevity I will simply say they are easy targets. With all of these options out the window, how should you store your passwords? This is where password managers come into play. Password managers are applications that keep your passwords both organized and safe. Password managers use strong encryption algorithms to secure your passwords, keeping them out of the eyes of hackers. Better yet, many modern password managers integrate directly with your browser so you don't even have to type them out when you visit a website.

Password manager I recommend

In my opinion, the best password manager on the market for everyday users is KeePassXC. Features include:

Best of all, it is free as in cost and free as in freedom. KeePassXC is a trusted and secure open source project (this means that people can look at the code to see if it's working). Also, because KeePassXC is an offline password manger, your password database is controlled by you. This way, you don't have to trust some company to keep your passwords safe. Many other password management software have been hacked in the past because they keep their passwords online and don't make their encryption methods transparent. It's better to go with an option that you control.

Also, there are a lot of great tutorials on how to use KeePassXC on YouTube, so there's no reason you can't learn.

Concluding remarks

In today's world of increasing online activity, you can never be too careful with your personal data. Remember good online security is better to have and not need then need and not have. Everyday people lose thousands of dollars because of bad passwords. Don't make yourself a target!