Let’s Talk About Security, Passwords, Password Managers, and You

Let’s Talk About Security, Passwords, Password Managers, and You

We can’t begin to tell you or emphasize enough how important it is that you use strong passwords and never reuse passwords on any site that deals with money or sensitive information (Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.). The only thing that stands between you and the criminals out to get your money or steal your identity is your password. 

Passwords are the keys to your online security. Use a password manager!

Using a good password manager in these days of high-stake cyber crimes makes it so much easier to manage and change your passwords. We have preached and preached about using a good password manager,  but still many of you are not using a password manager and you must do so. Here are three password managers that currently offer free versions:

LastPass

Bitwarden

RoboForm 

Can’t remember all your passwords? With a password manager, you don’t need to

We urge you to use a good password manager for many reasons. We have been around Windows and the internet for a long time, so we know exactly why so many of you use simple passwords like sandyb1831 or reggie48… and we know why you use the same passwords over and over. Why? BECAUSE IT’S HARD TO REMEMBER long, strong passwords with uppercase and lowercase letters, and symbols and numbers. And since you can’t remember strong complex passwords it gets to be a pain in the neck when you find you can’t log in to sites because you can’t remember your passwords.

And these are all good reasons you should use a good password manager.

So, if you don’t use a password manager now, please take our advice and install a good password manager – such as any of the aforementioned password managers – and learn to use it. Password managers are easy to learn and easy to use.

All the password managers we mentioned above have password generators that will generate strong passwords for you and remember them.

One more thing. Password managers can save you from being tricked into entering your password on phishing sites – counterfeit sites that look so much like the real site you can’t easily tell the difference unless you look carefully at the URL in the address bar. Password managers will simply not enter your username or password on phishing sites because they know when you’re on the correct site and when you are not.

But what if you’re obdurate and don’t want to use a password manager?

But if you are obstinate, intractable, obdurate, recalcitrant (is that enough synonyms for you?) and you refuse to use a password manager then at least use strong passwords and make them easy to remember. 

Creating strong passwords if you refuse to use a password manager

Here are some tips for creating strong passwords you’ll be able to remember… and there is no shame in writing them down as long as what you write them down on is stored somewhere safe and not left lying right next to your computer for all to see…eh?

Let’s say your favorite movie is Gone With the Wind.  You can make a strong password from that, you know?

Gon3WlTHth3w1nd*

That’s one way to do it. Notice the E’s are 3’s and the capital I in WITH is actually a lower case L. And the asterisk at the end adds a symbol to complete a very secure password. According Seccurity.org’s How Secure is My Password, it would take a hacker a trillion years to crack that password. That’s longer than even EB is going to be around.

Or “Gone With the Wind” fans, try this one:

Fr@nkly$c@let*i*d0ntgiv3@d@mn!

It would take a computer about THREE HUNDRED UNDECILLION YEARS to crack that password.

What if your wife has nice eyes? And her name is Meg?

iLuvuri$m3g

You are in luck. Even though that password is fairly short, it would take four hundred years for a computer to crack it.

Or what about your license plate, the last 4 digits of your cell number, and your first name. You can remember those things, right?

NEOU812*4419*D@n

His Nebraska license plate is OU812, the last 4 digits of his phone number are 4419 and his name is Dan. As you can see we used asterisks to separate them and the @ sign for the”a” in Dan. Oh so clever!  And Dan, you’re pretty safe… according to Seecurity.org’s How Secure is My Password,  https://www.security.org/how-secure-is-my-password/ it would take a computer a trillion years to crack that one.

OK… now we’ve given you some ideas on how to create some pretty strong passwords that are easy to remember and almost impossible to hack. If you don’t want to use a password manager, at least put our easy-to-use password tips to good use! After all, it’s for your own safety.

Let’s see what I can do with Darcy’s name…

d@rcyYRu$0M3@N?

It would take four hundred billion years to crack that one, EB! And why are you so mean? Eh?