How To Secure Your Passwords Online

You may have read for a thousand times already that you should use a password manager and also randomize the passphrases. However, not many of us do what we are told.

According to the National Cyber Security Centre of Britain, the most vulnerable phrases and words to protect your accounts online are the names of fictional characters and sports teams. So if yours fall into one of these two categories, you should make the change right away.

How To Know If Your Passwords Have Been Compromised?

The site haveibeenpwned.com will tell you exactly whether your accounts have been hacked. All you have to do is to enter your email address and the site will tell you if it is a victim of any data breach.

Is Password Manager Necessary?

For now, the most reliable and safest way is to use a password manager combining with randomized passphrases. Most of the popular web browsers now can do that for you, if you allow them. There are third-party choices too, with more functions, like LastPass or 1Password.

Should You Recycle Your Passwords?

Using the same password for multiple accounts is convenient and you can avoid the risk of forgetting which passphrase goes with which account. The real problem is that not many people can remember dozens of different passwords for a huge number of online accounts.

However, if you use one passphrase and an account of yours is hacked, the other will be too.

How Can I Make Sure My Password Is Secure?

Apart from using a password manager, you can install Authy, and utilize two-factor authentication. Have I Been Pwned also offer breach manager function you can sign up to use.