Strong, memorable passwords are a must in today's digital-centric world. But with the number of digital accounts required to do just about anything on internet — from online shopping to using social media platforms such as Facebook — keeping track of each and every password can be daunting. Dashlane, a password manager app and secure digital wallet, found that the average internet user has over 200 digital accounts that require passwords, and the company projects this figure to double to 400 in the next five years. Related: We're careless with passwords & it puts us at risk, study says
Fix passwords ASAP
In its third annual list of the "Worst Password Offenders," Dashlane also illuminated high-profile individuals and organizations that experienced the most significant password-related blunders in 2018. Everyone, especially those on the list, would do well to consider Dashlane's three tips going into 2019:
- Password protect all accounts. Whether it's a server, email account or an app, users should always secure their data with passwords as they're the first, and often only, line of defense between hackers and personal information.
- Use strong passwords. Never use passwords that are easy to guess or that contain names, proper nouns or details that can be learned through basic research. All passwords should be longer than eight characters and include a mix of random letters, numbers and symbols. Even better, use a password generator.
- Never reuse passwords. Each account needs a unique password. The risk in password reuse is that hackers can use passwords from compromised accounts to easily access other accounts. The only protection against this is to have a different password for every account.
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