Securing Your Passwords

by Chayse Dorn / WRJW News

I’m starting a series I’m calling “Have You Tried Plugging It In?” I will cover different topics related to technology. The goal is to help you, the readers, enhance your safety and ability to relax in this technology-filled (and sometimes tech-dependent) world.

With the overwhelming attempt by scammers and rogue cybersecurity experts to acquire your personal information, the need to stay ahead of these thieves is more important now than ever.

Passwords keep our accounts secure and allow us to feel safe when we log out of an account. However, there is a proper way to create a password to ensure that our private information is out of reach from hackers.

The term is “Password Complexity,” and in simple words, means having a password that contains at least 8 characters including one uppercase letter, digits 0-9, and often a special character such as ! or ?. You want to refrain from using the same password for multiple accounts and not using birthdays, anniversaries, or numbers in numerical order.

According to Tech.co “A 10 digit that uses only numbers can be cracked in an instant by a hacker – while one made of only lowercase letters would take up to a minute. However, if you use upper case and lower case, plus numbers and symbols, it could take a hacker up to two weeks to crack.”