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Is your password strong enough?
As per a recent research report by NordPass, a proprietary password manager app, the most common password in India is
- “password”
- “12345”
- “123456”
- And
“qwerty” all of which can be cracked in under a minute. This, despite cyber experts constantly reiterating that it is crucial to set a password that is complex, strong…. And, well, unlike any of the ones mentioned above. But, why are people so careless while creating passwords? Mukesh Choudhary a cyber expert explains, most people with a password like “1234” feel “I am not important, so who’s going to steal my password?’ Or, perhaps they feel that even if their password has been stolen, they don’t have much to lose.” However, Mukesh cautions, “what such people don’t understand is that weak passwords can leave them vulnerable and there’s a lot at stake. Apart from your data and money getting stolen, your account could be used by some anti-social elements or a terrorist to book tickets, etc.”
However, if you think you are safer than these people, just because your password is ‘your name + your birthday, you’re wrong! Here’s all you need to know about the how’s and whys of setting a strong password.
4/1
FOR A STRONG PASSWORD, ONE NEEDS TO BE AS RANDOM AS POSSIBLE
Your password should be like a jumble that no one is able to solve. It should have at least eight characters, besides numbers and punctuation marks. Choose letters in a ransom sequence than words. One should never use the name of their country or the city they live in as passwords.
A cyber expert says, “Don’t use names of your dog, ex, city, school, job or hobbies as your password as these can be easily guessed.”
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BE CAREFUL ON SOCIAL MEDIA, FOOD & SHOPPING APPS
A recent case saw a youngster’s gaming account-that he spent lakhs on -get hacked because it was linked to his father’s Facebook account, which has quite a simple password. And this is quite common, say, cyber experts. People often do not set a strong password for their social media account, which they link to multiple apps and websites. Another major mistake is to save your net banking and other payment details on your food and shopping apps. That’s because if the website is hacked, and your data is breached, it can be also be sold on the darknet.
A cybercrime official of Delhi Police says, “Most accounts are hacked due to easily-guessable passwords. “Experts who’ve dealt with Jamtara phishing cases for years and the hit-and-trial method is most popular with hackers.
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COMMON MISTAKES
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREVENT A PASSWORD LEAK?
- Go for multiple-level authentication on the website
- Opt for OTP-based verification
- Never save your password on any browser
- Do not use the same password for multiple websites
- Use a password manager
- Use a jumble of lower and upper cases
- Go for an alphanumeric password
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COMMON MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE WHILE SETTING PASSWORDS
- Choosing numbers in serial order
- Choosing your name as your password
- Going for numbers like the current year
Not using a mix of upper- and lower-case letters
Source: Delhitimes/Times of India
