It is that simple
Nordpass recently revealed that ‘admin’ is the most common used password in the UK followed by 123456. 12345678 and 123456789 are also commonplace. ‘password’ and variations of the word password take five places in the top 20 most used passwords.
Despite cybersecurity experts repeatedly emphasising the need for more complicated password they continue to be ignored. Approximately 80% of data breaches are caused by weak passwords. Criminals are only too aware of this and exploit this weakness.
Another very common thing to do is to repeat passwords for different accounts, the biggest problem with this is if they can get into one account they can get into more a possibly steal your digital lives altogether. Needless to say this can have devastating consequences both personally and financially.
Recent research by Virgin Media/O2 suggests four out of every five people use the same, or nearly identical, passwords on online accounts, giving an almost open door for hackers to compromise log-ins.
What next?
Make your passwords are long and strong. This could be done by mixing numbers, letters and special characters.
Don’t reuse the same password. The rule of thumb is that each account should have a unique password because if one account is compromised, hackers can use the same credentials for other accounts.
Change any passwords that are variations on the same word now, starting with the important sets of accounts: banks, email, work and mobile.
There are password managers provided by the big companies such as Apple has iCloud Keychain, while Android phones have Google Password Manager, both of which can generate and save complicated passwords.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is something you can set up for your email, and other important online accounts, to add an extra layer of security. It involves providing something that only you can access e.g. a code sent to you by text message. You should turn 2FA on for every service that offers it.
These precautions are necessary to protect yourself online and this will at least help to prevent your accounts details being stolen. Don’t leave yourself vulnerable, it takes more effort and is inconvenient but it is well worth your time doing.
