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Maintaining All of Your Online Passwords

So much of our lives today revolve around the internet.With the the prevalence of online shopping, social media and online banking, so much of our sensitive information is stored online. Everything from your Netflix account to your Bank Account is accessible online through passwords. The information we submit online is supposed to be protected, but there is always the threat of data breach. As more people get online and more online accounts are created, more hackings are likely to occur. Hackings have been on the rise in recent years affecting everyone from retail stores to the federal government. While no one is safe from hackings, we can all take steps towards preventing hackings and keeping our private information safe. Below are some tips on how to properly maintain all of your online passwords.  These tips will help you to maintain all of your passwords and to avoid a security breach.

Know Your Passwords and Their Location

When you have so many online accounts, it can be a struggle to remember all of your account information. It is easy to forget passwords and lose important account information. To prevent this from happening, it can be helpful to keep a paper document that has all of your passwords listed. While it can be tempting to have a post-it note of passwords on your laptop, this won’t ensure security. You also might want a document in your computer that contains your passwords, but this is also risky. Keeping a physical paper list with your passwords in a private, somewhat hidden location will ensure information security, while allowing you to remember all of your passwords.

Build Better Passwords

One of the best ways to offset hackings is to build a strong password. You also shouldn’t use the same password for every online account. Use a number of different letters, numbers and characters, both uppercase and lowercase. Also, while it was once okay to have a 4 character password, this is no longer a good option. Your password should, ideally, be eight or more characters long. Complex and long passwords aren’t the easiest to remember, but if you write them down you will have them on record in the event that you forget. The longer and more complex your password is, the harder it will be to crack.

Change your Password Regularly

Having the same password for a long period of time, can leave your password (and account) susceptible to a hacking. To prevent a potential hacking, it is probably a good idea to update your passwords every few months. This will ensure that your passwords are consistently up-to-date, strong and difficult to crack.

For more security tips, contact Biel’s today.