Ah, passwords—the internet’s most helpful headache.
No matter how much you want to protect your data, it can be tempting to simplify your ever-growing password collection. But you don’t want to solve one problem only to create new ones.
In the examples below, four people have tried to solve their password overload—let’s see how each one did.
1Reusing Passwords
“More passwords, more problems.” That’s the motto of One-and-Done Will.
Will decided using the same password for every account would make it easier to remember his login information. He wouldn’t have to think when making new passwords either.
Hackers and bots are big fans of Will’s method. Once they figure out his password, they can use it to log into every single one of his accounts without breaking a sweat.
Will needs to have a varied set of passwords. Otherwise, his security is one and done too.
2Writing Passwords Down
Nick the Notetaker has a theory: If all your passwords are written down, you won’t have to worry about memorization, and hackers can’t guess them. Nick writes his passwords in his notebook, which he keeps in a drawer at his desk.
Nick is getting there. There’s one major problem, though—if Nick can read his password off a list, everyone can. Even if he locks his desk drawer, all it takes is a misplaced key to make his passwords freely available.
3Using Easy-to-Remember Words or Personal Info
Quizmaster Kelly likes to use trivia about herself to craft easy-toremember passwords. “423KingStreet” (her address) and “July1963!”
(her birth month) are just two of her masterpieces.
Kelly has successfully thwarted the laziest of intruders by switching up her passwords. She still has a problem: If a bot has collected any of her personal data, or if someone she knows is trying to hack her, her passwords are almost as transparent as Will’s. It turns out quizzes aren’t so hard when you already know the answers.
Kelly needs passwords with minimum complexity to keep them from being guessable. That means no common names or dictionary words, and a good mix of some or all of the following: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters (for example, a question mark or ampersand).
4Using a Secure Password Manager
Hackbuster Helen is on her A game. She knows that using a digital password manager can save her login ID and password for every account she uses without worrying about theft, bots, or memorization.
The app keeps her passwords secure behind a two-factor authentication system (it texts or calls to verify it’s her when she logs in). While it’s active, the app fills in her passwords automatically when she visits sites she’s registered for. It even helps her generate new, random passwords.
Some of Helen’s favorite password managers include:
- Bitwarden
- LastPass
- 1Password
- Keeper
