The vast majority of computer users use weak passwords. Worse, they recycle the same passwords on multiple websites and services. These two bad habits make those people an easy target for hacking.
Why are recycled passwords dangerous? Passwords are stolen by the hundreds of millions and sold as bulk in the dark web allowing hackers from around the world to try your passwords on multiple websites.
Let's say you have a Linkedin account. You might not, but let's just pretend you do for this example. Your Linkedin password is something like myPass1953, and you use the same password for Gmail because it makes your life easy and you think you're safe because you only type these passwords on your home computer. Besides, this password is a good one you tell yourself.
Then this happens:
117 million LinkedIn emails and passwords from a hack just got posted online
But you're not a techie, and you don't read the techie news, so you miss this story, and quietly your password begins to circulate among thousands of hackers in dozens of countries around the world.
Leaked passwords are something like finding a bucket of keys in a parking lot. You have to go around and try a lot of doors before you find ones that work. But with passwords, hackers have programs to try them automatically by the thousands. Eventually, they discover your Gmail and Linkedin share the same password and username, and now they've got access to your email account.
Your email account is a master key. With a master key, they can not only reset your other passwords, but they can also troll your messages to discover your bank information and your whole world begins to unravel as they start to empty your bank accounts.
The easiest way to avoid this is to use these four easy rules:
1. Use a password manager to generate, store, and type your passwords for you.
2. Enable 2-Factor authentication on your email account and in your password manager.
3. Store your most important master passwords in a paper notebook and keep it in a locked drawer or safe.
4. Monitor your bank transactions in real-time using a service such as Mint.com.
These simple rules make you a hard target, and using a password manager makes everything easier because you only type a master password.
In future posts I will discuss the Keeper Password Manager, and the Google Authenticator for enabling 2-Factor authentication on your accounts.
