Staying Safe Online
We all know that we should never use the same password online for our different accounts, yet some people still do it. It’s extremely risky to use the same password for all of your accounts because if one of those websites you signed up for were to be hacked and all information is leaked then someone can take that same password and login to your email. This is where the person can wreak havoc to your online identity. Using the same password or even using different passwords, but storing them in a plain text file is a very bad practice.
Enter password managers. They will help keep all your passwords safe and secure. With a password manager all you will have to remember is one master password that will log you in to your database of passwords. Another neat feature is that the password managers will have a password generator that can create strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts. This way you don’t have to try and create strong passwords yourself.
Another safe practice online is to use two factor authentication (also known as 2FA) when possible. What 2FA does is provides more security to your account. When you login to an account with 2FA enabled it will prompt you with a way of guaranteeing that it’s you. The way it does this is dependent on how you originally enable 2FA. It can text, call, email, or generate a string of letters and numbers in a mobile authenticator app. You then just copy and paste that string into the required field and you’ll be logged in. Two factor authentication just makes it harder for a person to hack into your accounts and it is free and easy to do.
Obtaining a password manager and enabling 2FA for any account that has it available are just two methods of staying safer online. It would also be wise to change your password every few months or so just to ensure that everything is staying secure.
