Every year we celebrate national holidays, one of which is World Password Day. Passwords hold the key to our digital lives, so keeping track of them and making sure they are secure is essential. Identity fraud reached its highest levels in 2019 with almost 364,643 reported incidents, according to CIFAS around 65% of identity theft victims had a social media or online presence. Criminals simply scanned the web for readily available information like name, date of birth, email, and telephone number, making this the number one method of obtaining personal details.
Through the use of hacking social accounts or servers, these cybercriminals can gain access to a wealth of personal information, which they can then use to access bank accounts, sign up for websites under your name, or even apply for a passport.
To prevent this from happening to you, it is wise to make sure your passwords are strong and complex, as well as regularly changing them. Do not use one password for everything. Universal passwords can lead to more serious issues if data leaks, as hackers will have access to every online account you use.
Don’t forget that nowadays anyone’s personal information is only an online search away, pet names, nicknames, or anything you could have posted about enjoying will become an easy target for hackers if used as your password.
Staying Safe Online
Simple keyboard patterns such as ‘qwerty’ and ‘123456’ are just as insecure as leaving your password as ‘password’ or ‘welcome’ as they are easily guessable. It is always better to use a long, complex password that only you know. Try to include numbers, lower and upper case letters, and symbols in the password, as there are infinite combinations on the keyboard that would take too long to crack.
Using password manager websites and apps can be beneficial for keeping your online life secure. There is a wide range of password manager options from free solutions to paid-for subscriptions but all of which are virtually un-hackable. Use an auto-generated random combination of numbers and letters as your account password, so trying to figure it out would be too complicated. The password managers don’t even have access to your encrypted data, the master password is not stored anywhere on your computer or on their servers. Most password managers also require the login to be from an approved device so that you can be sure no one is accessing it from somewhere else.
So make sure this World Password Day you are doing everything you can to keep your personal information protected and secure in order to prevent becoming the target of identity fraud. To keep any confidential and important physical documents secure we would recommend the use of a safe deposit box. This way you can protect all data containing private information.
Safety Deposit Boxes
Find out what safety deposit boxes and virtual business addresses that we offer, get in touch with us, or give us a call on 0161 273 7487 today.