Staying safe online is even more important than ever. We see news of companies being hacked, social media apologies galore for the same reason, and news stories almost every day about cyber crime.
Which of course means we need to stay vigilant and safe. Which is a lot easier than you think…
Don’t Repeat Passwords
For many of us, we’ll generally use the same passwords for most of our logins. Firstly, that’s bad practice but secondly, you really don’t need to if you have a password manager.
Naturally, it can be hard to remember dozens of different passwords, it’s how you end up going in a vicious circle of Forgot Your Password? click throughs.
It is however incredibly important to avoid using the same passwords. There are a wide range of threats out there, desperate for your password and essentially steal from you, whether that be for information or money.
Most commonly that will be via fraudulent emails. These may claim to be your bank, the government or any other official sounding body, and include an attachment. Click that and they can watch your every move online, and more importantly see what you’re typing in those password boxes.
Use Safe Password Salting & Hashing
If you’re developing an app or are using one, password hashing is one of the first steps to be made within JavaScript.
Salting is a unique value that’s randomly generated and stored from each login. This presents the same password having identical hashs’.
A hashing algorithm will turn the password into a mixed length value and make it much harder for a hacker to figure out the original password and discover your data. The more sophisticated the hashing, the harder it will be for a password to be compromised.
Download A Password Manager
That’s where a password manager comes in. Some of the best password managers will make your online life not only easier but safer too.
There are many features to a good password manager and they’re well worth paying for to keep your mind at ease.
Strong password generation is something you should always look out for. While the average person in the street won’t know how to set tough passwords to crack, automatic password generators will create passwords that are almost impossible to crack.
To keep them extra safe, a two-step authentication system will add an extra layer of security.
Another thing to keep an eye out on is ultra-secure encryption. This will protect hugely against Keylogging hacking through fraudulent emails. AES 256-bit encryption is generally what you’d be after, providing you with incredibly secure browsing.
Keeping Your Passwords Safe On Multiple Platforms
Today we switch between devices more often than ever before so having a system that manages passwords easily is mightily helpful.
In many of the top password managers you’ll find they work cross-platform so whether you’re using your iPhone or your Windows PC, you won’t have to worry about forgetting passwords.
As a nation, even planet, we all need to think about looking after our accounts that little bit more, and whether you just take a moment to ensure all your passwords are unique or invest in a top of the range password manager, every little helps.
