Your money is important to you. That’s part of the reason you’re reading this blog, right? And with the rise of online banking, you should do whatever you can to protect your money. That protection starts with having a secure password.
How secure is your current password? There’s a good chance that your password could be even more secure than it already is. If that’s the case, the following tips will help you create passwords that will give you the security you need.
An Easy Password is a Vulnerable Password – You wouldn’t make your ATM pin code something simple like “1111” so why make your online passwords easy to guess? The more difficult your password is, the safer your money will be. The most secure passwords use upper and lowercase letters and numbers. And whatever you do, don’t write your passwords on a piece of paper in your purse!
Use a Password You Can Remember – First, let’s clarify: This does NOT mean using a password of the city you were born in or your daughter’s first name. Those are easy passwords (see the first tip). To make a memorable AND complicated password, use a phrase that’s easy for you to remember, but hard for people to guess. For example, a phrase like “Jacob was born in San Francisco on December 19” becomes “JwbiSFoD19”.
Use Different Passwords – Many people use the same password (or perhaps two or three passwords) for all of their online banking, email and social media accounts. That might make it easy for you to remember all that login info, but it also makes your accounts vulnerable if someone figures out one of your passwords. Instead, use different passwords for each account – or at least use four or five different passwords for your accounts instead of one or two passwords.
Know When It’s Time for a Change – Most experts agree that even the best passwords should be changed a few times each year. Do yourself a favor and follow that wise advice.
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