Last week, Mike wrote about how to reset your password securely (note: see an important addendum below!), so I wanted to highlight some best practices for creating and maintaining all of your passwords this week, since that’s where it all begins (and by “it”, I largely mean INTERNET SECURITY!).
If you’re still using “password” as your password, take note and act immediately to secure those things up. Trust me, identity theft is a drag (and not just a sub-par movie).
Here’s what you should always consider when setting your passwords:
- Use a unique password for each of your important accounts (i.e. email accounts and sites for online banking)
- Use a long password made up of numbers, letters and symbols (i.e. p@$$w0rd; however, I still don’t recommend that — get a little more creative, friends)
- Set up your password recovery options and keep them up-to-date
- Make them obscure, but it helps to have personal meaning
- Rotate frequently
One thing I do is have a set of passwords for each type of site/app/account I use; what that means is that I have a bunch of different active passwords at the same time, but I still rotate them frequently. I find that it helps me group certain types of passwords together.
As Google notes, it isn’t always a bad idea to write down your passwords, but I don’t go that route. The trick would be to keep them in a super secure place, yet accessible enough that you’re encouraged to update the list as frequently as you update the passwords themselves. For all of us digital-types, try an application such as 1Password. (Note: If you’re already using 1Password and Dropbox, you may want to take advantage of their upgrade special. Through Friday, August 16, 1Password 4 for iOS is over 50% off at $8; it’s usually $18. See more here.)
Thanks to Google and other helpful online resources for aiding in the research of something so important.
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Addendum to Mac Treat #214: Reader Dave helpfully pointed out that we should have mentioned the following important piece of info: once you reset your password as described in the article, you no longer have access to your original keychain. A word of caution when you go to reset that password!