Digital Smarts - Creating Strong Passwords

By now you should be aware that creating strong passwords is vital for preventing hackers and snoops to getting into your online accounts, but most people still rely on one or two passwords for all of their log-ins. A recent article in USA Today entitled How to create a strong password suggests tweaking your passwords from site to site with a consistent theme so you can easily remember it. Think you already have a strong password? See if one of these weak password cracking tools can guess it.

In addition to being safety conscious about your password, it is also important to think about those answers you give to the security questions set up for account verification and password resets. If someone has personal information about you, they may be able to answer those questions successfully and get into your account. Instead of giving an “accurate” response, another idea is to answer something only you will know. For example, if they ask your hometown you can put in “otters” or “spaceships.” The site does not know if you have put in an actual geographic place. Misinformation, as long as you remember where and when you have used it, can be a way to keep hackers out of your accounts and log-ins.