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

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

Sometimes we like to pound home an idea if we think it will help keep you safe. We’ve probably reminded you about the importance of strong passwords two dozen times — or more — over the years. Well, guess what? We are going to remind you again. It’s that important to your safety.

Our mission is to help everyone we can with their Windows computers… and to help keep everyone safe on the web. And 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 steal your money or your identity just might be 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 won’t have 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, 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. All have free versions available so you don’t need to spend a dime to use them. 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 and remember them for you.

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, and/or recalcitrant (are those enough adjectives for you?) and you refuse to use a password manager, then please, at least use strong passwords. We are going to show you how to make strong passwords that are 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… there is no shame in writing them down as long as whatever you write them down on is stored somewhere safe and not left 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 lowercase L. And the asterisk at the end adds a symbol to complete a very secure password. According to 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 relatively 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 letter a in Dan. Oh so clever!  And Dan, you’re pretty safe… according to Security.org, it would take a computer a trillion years to crack that one.

NEVER USE THE SAME PASSWORD FOR SITES DEALING WITH HIGHLY SENSITIVE, PERSONAL DATA

And never use the same password on more than one site if those sites deal with highly sensitive personal information like credit cards, bank accounts, IRS accounts, and Social Security accounts… you get this idea. Use a unique password for every site that deals with highly sensitive personal data.

Passwords are key to your security… at least for now.

The world is changing and 2FA is becoming very widely used. Combining a strong password with 2FA (two-factor authentication) keeps your personal data even more secure. And in the coming years there will certainly be other options besides passwords in use.  Biometrics are already widely used on smartphones we use them on our smartphones to access our bank accounts. But for right now we want to help keep you safe using the most common login options available today – and those are strong passwords.

We have 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, by the way, why are you so mean? Eh?