How a password generator can help you create a strong password

Do a quick Google search for “password hacking software”, and you will be shocked (and maybe appalled) at how many people sell programs design to crack your passwords and hack your accounts. You’ll also find questions from people around the world asking, “what are the best ways to hack someone’s password?” These are the people you need to protect yourself against.

Here are the top cyber security factors to make a strong password and accessing your accounts:

No names, please

Don’t use your name, first, last or middle, as your password. The three passwords that a hacker will try first is, “password”, “123456” and different combinations of your name. Same goes for the names of family members, pets, friends, etc. A lot of this information is easy for hackers to find and they won’t hesitate to use it against you.

Clean out your browsers

Turn off automatic passwords, auto login, and password storage on your web browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) Any password stored in this way can be hacked.

And clean out the cloud

Don’t store any important passwords in the cloud, for the same reason as #7. Online storage is easily hacked into.

A VIP deserves a VPN

You can make sure your connections are encrypted when using your mobile devices by setting up a VPN (Virtual Private Network) on your home computer. Then, whenever you use your cell phone, tablet or laptop, connect to the VPN and this will encrypt all the data that is leaving your mobile device so that hackers and hacking software can’t read it.

To change, or not to change?

The standard recommendation is to change your passwords every 8-12 weeks. If you’re using a good random password generator to create strong passwords all the time, and storing them safely (see #13), then changing passwords regularly is a good security measure. If, however, changing passwords often will just make you go back to weaker, easy to remember passwords, like your pet’s name, don’t bother. It’s better to have a really strong password, and keep it forever, than to have a new weak password every 3 months.

Don’t lose your passwords

Encrypt and store your passwords in a few different locations. That way, if you lose access to your computer or account, you can get your passwords back quickly and easily.