Arnaud Gilbert 
Passwords play an important and inseparable role in our digital and daily lives. Once, there was a time, when a person only had to keep track of a few passwords, namely his Gmail and Facebook accounts. But over the years, as the internet has encroached upon our lives, we find ourselves more and more tangled in this digital web. And it is no longer possible to manage so many different passwords at once without inviting a cyber risk. Hence, the article will surmise how to manage passwords efficiently and with ease.
Table of Contents
- 1 Why Do We Need to Manage Our Passwords?
- 2 5 Steps to Manage Passwords with Ease:
Why Do We Need to Manage Our Passwords?
Today, we require an online account for almost anything. Be it banking, travel, shopping, social media or even gaming. While creating an account and incorporating a password is made pretty easy, the same doesn’t hold true for its management. How often do we find ourselves forgetting and resetting our account? In fact, a recent survey done by ExpressVPN on the topic also highlighted this core issues with multiple passwords required for different apps. The survey found that passwords for these apps were most forgotten:
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- 30% Banking
- 24% Social media
- 16% Online shopping
- 9% Utility companies
- 8% Online gaming companies.
That’s why we have prepared 5 easy yet essential steps for everyone to follow. Doing so will not only increase the longevity of their account and reduce password resetting, but it will also ensure the quality of the password to fend off any unwanted cyber threat.
5 Steps to Manage Passwords with Ease:
Managing a password may seem like a chore, but it is something one has to do in today’s modern setting. As for use, we can only hope to make this process as simpler and easier as possible.
Avoid Leaving Your Password in An Unprotected File/Online
Right off the bat, we urge users to not leave their passwords unprotected. Many times, due to the complexity of the password, people tend to note it on a .txt file or save it to their emails. This is highly risky as these documents can easily be hacked. Also avoid sharing your password on any social media chat or platform as it is a breach of security.
Many experts and surveys over the years have expressed the importance of unique password. Now, people do understand the merit behind this but due to the abundance of online accounts, they often feel overwhelmed. As a resort, they tend to simply their lives by keeping a strong password, but across multiple accounts. It is a glaring flaw because if one of your account comes under scrutiny, then the security for the rest would be a forgone issue. Thus, try to come up with unique passwords for your different accounts.
Try to Incorporate MFA In Your Daily Life
One good thing about progress is that it also opens new doors. Therefore, the issue plaguing passwords can easily be countered by employing Multi-factor authentication. MFA or Multi-factor authentication is a process where users rely on other authentication steps after entering a password. One good example will be the OTP. We urge users to, at least, incorporate 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) in their digital lives as it is the most convenient practice available right now. And the advent of smartphones can also help as there are many authentication apps available on any given app store.
Use Strong and Safe Password Guideline
Simply using a password is no longer enough. One doesn’t need to be well versed in computers to launch an attack, as there are ready-made hacking tools available on the net. These tools follow simple algorithms that use an existing pattern to try and break your passwords. Hence, common passwords won’t make your account safe. Extensive research has provided a few guidelines one can follow to make their passwords more secure. Such as:
Make it Long
Long passwords are the hardest to crack. As a rule of thumb, try to keep your passwords anywhere between 8 and 16 letters. Doing so will prevent most of the basic attempts at cracking.
Use Alphanumeric Passwords with Special Characters
Also, try to use an alphanumeric password. Alphanumeric means consisting of both alphabets and numbers. Such passwords are generally much stronger than long ones. Also try to mix special characters like @, _, *, etc., in your password. If possible, make your passwords with different cases, as most websites accept case-sensitive passwords.
Do Not Use Dictionary Words/Phrases
Never use simple words or phrases that can directly be found in a dictionary. Doing so will make your password prone to dictionary-based attacks. Use random phrases if you must, and jumble the spelling of words enough to make it easy to remember but hard to crack.
Employ a Password Manager
Finally, employ a password manager. Although it can be seen as advice that undermines the whole not sharing of the password point, recent password managers are highly secure. They use state-of-the-art encryption practices and do not store your data on servers, making them the perfect place to store passwords. Some noteworthy suggestions are: LastPass, KeePass and Dash lane. You can even give your native browser a try and use its password manager to get a feel of things.
In Conclusion
Lastly, in afterthought, we would like to mention that an average person wastes around 12 hours a year resetting a password. While not a lot, it is time you can spend catching up your favourite Netflix series. Especially when managing a password isn’t that much of a chore as one imagines. We urge our readers to give this one a thought and at least start managing their passwords as early as possible.
