2. Using the same password for every account
This is probably the most common mistake people make because hackers aren’t just sitting around and guessing your passwords until they get them right. They will actually hack the security systems of big brands like Target—and once they’ve done that, they will attempt to use your password on all of your other accounts.
So, if you’re worried that you won’t be able to remember multiple passwords for different accounts, IT expert Liz Rodriguez suggests using a password manager site like LastPass, which will safely encrypt your data. However, try not to use the same password for every account!
The same goes for short passwords. “Using a longer password is much more important than anything else,” says Rodriguez, noting that the longer it is, the harder it is to crack. “Say your password is whitefloers, for example; that’s more likely to be in a dump of dictionary words that hackers use to run against the site. However, a password such as myfavoriteflowersarelilies isn’t going to be in there.”
