Strong and secure passwords help defend against malicious activities such as unauthorized access to personal data, identity theft, and cyber-attacks. The stronger your passwords, the more secure your assets will be from malicious actors. Having your website hacked or personal information stolen can result in significant expenses, hours of time spent to recover, and significant damage to your brand and reputation. Reliable and effective security measures are paramount to operating a successful business.
Far too often, people use weak passwords or use the same password for all their digital accounts. Additionally, many people avoid changing their password for years. When asked about password habits, we are told that it can be hard to remember multiple passwords or that they are kept on sticky notes. These are bad practices and raise huge security concerns.
Password Storage Managers
To increase your security and protect your digital information, I suggest using a password manager. A password manager is a secure application that stores your login credentials and other important information. Think of it like an online vault where you keep your digital valuables. Password Managers can store login credentials, credit card information, form information such as addresses and phone numbers, and more. Once you save your login credentials in your password manager, it will allow you to log into that site automatically in the future.
Companies who maintain quality password managers, like Dashlane, invest millions into the security of their software to keep your information secure and they encrypt the whole database for extra protection with a single master password. They’re much safer than that sticky note under your keyboard.
Dashlane Password Storage Manager
Dashlane is a multi-platform, full-featured password storage manager. More than a password manager, it is actually a digital wallet. Dashlane is offered for businesses and individuals and offers free and premium level subscriptions.
Additionally, Dashlane has a built-in password generator which creates secure passwords for you. Using a generator like this helps avoid patterns that can lead to vulnerabilities.
Benefits of Using Dashlane:
Some of the main benefits of using the Dashlane Password Storage Manager are:
- Stores usernames and passwords
- Enables secure password sharing
- Strong password generator
- Login from anywhere
- Easy synchronization among devices
- Cross-platform availability
- Can be installed as browser plug-in
- Mobile application available
- Secure document storage
- Includes VPN
- Online protection against data hacks and breaches
- Monitors dark web and give alerts if any of your data get appeared in dark web search
Characteristics of a Strong Password
If you’d prefer to create your own passwords rather than using a random password generator, use this criterion to ensure you’re using strong passwords:
- Change your passwords every 90 days
- Do not use the same password on all accounts
- Minimum of 9 characters
- At least 1 lowercase letter
- At least 1 uppercase letter
- At least 1 number
- At least 1 symbol
- Do not use words or numbers such as a phone number. Certainly don’t use simple to hack words such as a child’s or pets name or birthday.
Other tips to keep your passwords secure:
Password Sharing
Avoid sharing your passwords as much as possible. Even if the person you’re sharing it with is trustworthy, you open yourself up to vulnerabilities by sharing credentials with someone who doesn’t have good security habits. If you do need to share credentials for temporary access, I suggest doing so with a password manager and then changing your password after they have finished.
To share a password securely, follow these steps:
- Create a Dashlane account
- Add the credentials you want to share to your Dashlane Password Storage Manager
- From the main page of the browser extension, click on “Share” (shown below) at the top of the page.
Password Hints
Password hints are a common way for hackers to gain access to your information. Unfortunately, many default password hint questions ask for well-known information. Rather than putting the correct answer to basic questions like, “What was your first pets name”, or “What is your favorite sports team”, use a different word or code as the answer to these questions.
Conclussion
Taking some precautions when creating and storing your passwords will help keep your digital information secure. Using stronger passwords that you change quarterly is the first step. Using a Password Storage Manager, like Dashlane, avoids the need to remember all of the passwords and keeps them secure.
