Why Password Should Not Be Your Password

MacBook keyboard by alcomm.

source

Hacked!

So, my website had a breach last week. Someone hacked in and put up some nefarious redirects in my footer. I am thankful for the kind reader who took the time to contact me and let me know. Also a big thanks to my wonder IT husband who took care of it right away.

I was lucky. DH was able to clean up the redirects easily but I tell you, he was not impressed when I told him my password had been password.

“What?!? Have you not read about the importance of having a strong password?” Yes, yes I have but with so many passwords required for so many things, I tended to stick with easy to remember and consistent passwords. After all, who would want to do anything to my blog? *Newsflash* Sadly, there are bad people out there and we need to protect our sites, our identities etc. with good passwords. You may think (like I did), that it won’t happen to you or that you have nothing to steal but it will and you do!

Top Passwords to Avoid

According to DH and a number of other sources, password is the worst password to use because it is the most easily guessed. Who knew?

  1. Password
  2. (username)
  3. (username)123
  4. 123456\
  5. 1234
  6. 12345
  7. passwd
  8. 123
  9. test
  10. 1

Making a Strong Password

Let me share with you some security tips and ideas for making a strong password; a few direct from my genius DH.

  • the longer the better
  • making it alphanumeric with non-consecutive numerals
  • try and avoid using real words found in the dictionary. (Though it would be hard to come up with a real word that wasn’t in there! LOL)
  • do not use names, birthdays, anniversaries etc.
  • add a capital letter or two to mix things up
  • use different passwords for each  thing that requires a password. It ensures that if there is a breach that it isn’t too widespread.
  • check the strength at Password Meter
  • change up your password every so often. I’ve read every 6-12 months
  • replace one or two letters in your password with a symbol
  • replace letters with numbers like E with 3 or I with 1
  • never share a password via email
  • do not (obviously) share with anyone else

Do you have a good password? Please share…just kidding! But feel free to tell us if you have any security tips!

5 Comments

  1. Well, my ebay account was hacked about a year and a half ago or so and they were able to get into my hotmail account, too. So, I started changing up my passwords, yes plural. There are numbers, capitals, lowercase, etc. They’re different on each site. I have a running list so that I don’t forget.

    I’m so paranoid someone is going to get into one of my accounts again!! So sorry some schmuck didn’t have enough to fulfill their own life and had to monkey with yours. Ugh, how annoying!

    Sorry I did’t even notice the information on your posts. I would’ve let you know had I paid attention!

    Thanks for sharing!

    ~Mimi

  2. Oh my gosh! I don’t know why people have to be so destructive! My mom’s email account was hacked just the other day. They stole everything, the contact list…you name it! They also sent out malicious emails to tons of her friends and family. I’m so glad you were able to fix the problem.
    I need to start changing all my passwords to make them stronger. I like the idea of different ones and just keeping a list somewhere secure. I will put that on my to do list :O) Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention!

    Take care,
    Tracy

Comments are closed.