We are all guilty of using passwords that aren’t very secure but are easy to remember and using those passwords for everything, everywhere - from the ones that need to be the most secure like Banking and the least secure ones like your local sports club.
Now is a good time to start using strong, safe passwords - the old rule about uppercase and lowercase, numbers and symbols is no longer in vogue and using the same passwords for everything is certainly not good practice.
Because we have so many passwords to remember it is best to use a Password Manager like - 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass, Keeper or LogMeOnce. Even Firefox can manage your passwords for you - that way you have one password that gives you access to all of your passwords.
The password you choose for your Password Manager should be strong, but memorable - so something like - ILoveToGoForWalksByTheSea% or simpler Ilovetogoforwalksbythesea%. If you need to put a number in simply exchange a letter that looks like a number like 0 for o or 1 for i or 4 for a.
Don’t share your passwords - or leave a post-it note under your keyboard with your computer login :0(
Watch this video!
If a hacker gets your email password they can watch everything that you do and eventually impersonate you online - get access to your banking etc. I cannot overstate the importance of strong safe passwords.
You can also check if any of the accounts you use have been compromised and if the hacker managed to steal any passwords - you can check this in Firefox here - do this straight away and then change those passwords first.
You can also test your password to see if it is widely used or easily guessed by checking here.
When choosing a password don’t use any of the following:
Your username, actual name or business name.
Family members’ or pets’ names.
Birthdays - unless its the birthday of one of your idols like Brad Pitt or Idris Elba.
Football team or other words easy to work out with a little background knowledge.
‘Password’, Password123, Passw0rd or any variation of the word Password!!
Numerical sequences. 2468, 9876, etc. are a no no.
A single dictionary word, which could be cracked by common hacking techniques.
For more information see here