What are the risks of a weak password?
Using multiple accounts has become the norm in the digital age. Email, social networks, cloud storage, apps, online banking… You need a password to access all of these. A password is a way of authenticating yourself and proving your identity.
The importance of a strong password
When you create any kind of account, you have to choose a username and a password. The key issue is how secure your accounts are so that only you can log in. Setting a strong password therefore becomes essential.
Many IT specialists and hackers are able to break into accounts. They can access information you want to keep confidential. Their actions can go even further.
The risks also include identity theft, scamming your friends and family, illegal withdrawals from your bank account, and more. To limit these risks and avoid serious problems, it is vital to set a strong password.
Rules for choosing a good password
These simple rules will help you create a good password.
Go for length
A minimum of 12 characters is currently recommended for a password. The longer it is, the harder it will be to hack. A shorter password can be acceptable if you also use other security options. Some services offer two-factor authentication and image-recognition checks.
Include different characters
Mix numbers, letters and special characters in the same password. You can use upper-case and lower-case letters, punctuation and other characters such as @, \, [,{, #… The more complex your password is, the harder it will be to guess or crack.
Use different passwords for your different accounts
Using the same password everywhere exposes you to much greater risk. Anyone trying to hack your accounts will have a much easier job. Always choose a specific password for each account.
Change your passwords
To improve your security, you should update your passwords from time to time at irregular intervals. Changing your password at least once every quarter is recommended.
Passwords to avoid
Anything obvious or easy to guess should be avoided to reduce the risk of hacking as much as possible. Your password should not be linked to your personal life. That includes birth or wedding dates, towns and cities, and the names of people close to you.
These codes are easy to guess for anyone with bad intentions. With social networks, it is now very simple to find this kind of information about you.
Very common and obvious passwords should also be avoided. This list of bad passwords is not exhaustive:
- Mot de passe, motdepasse or passwords,
- 123456789 or 987654321 and their shorter versions such as 1234 or 4321,
- Azerty and Qwerty,
- ABCDEF or WXYZ and their versions followed by consecutive numbers such as ABC123,
- Très simple or compliqué
Practical tips for managing your different passwords
You should bear in mind two principles when creating passwords:
- Choose a password simple enough for you to remember easily,
- Choose a password complicated enough that others cannot guess it.
However, remembering them is not always easy. When you have to log in to several accounts, it is easy to get mixed up between different passwords.
You may type the wrong code or confuse it with another one. Accessing your accounts can then become difficult and time-consuming.
To make things easier, try using long phrases. Just replace certain letters with characters and alternate between lower case and upper case.
You can also remember two or three basic codes and combine them in different ways for your various accounts. Because it is longer, a combination of different codes and words will also help to improve your security.
Using password hints can also help you remember them. However, make sure you choose clues and memories that only you understand. For example, you might note in a notebook that the password for your email account refers:
- To your childhood friend,
- To your first dog or your GP’s dog,
- To your favourite primary school teacher,
- To the amount of your first pay packet, etc.
You also have the option of using a password manager. These are tools that help secure all your accounts. You only need to remember a single master password to access the manager. It will then allow you to log in to all your other accounts.
