One of the biggest problems I see, regardless of age are weak passwords. In this article from LastPass, (the creators of the app I’ll show you in this post) they mention a 2017 report that states 81% of all breaches in that year were due to weak passwords.
- Before we get into using the LastPass app you will need to create a master password
- The Longer a password is, the better it is. It’s also strengthened by numbers and characters.
Until you remember it, you will need to store your master password in a place you won’t forget. Inside your favourite book, could be a good place.
To understand a good password, we need to understand what makes a bad one
- Your pets name without other characters, numbers or letters.
- Your children or grandchildren’s names without other characters, numbers or letters included.
- Never use your spouses name.
- Never use any part of your address or your cars rego.
- Never use your phone number.
- Never use your motor vehicle licence number.
- Never use your birthdate information for numbers within your password
Why are these bad passwords?
- If someone hacks into your Facebook Page they may get the names for the members of your family and sometimes much more.
- If you lose your wallet or your purse is stolen, this person will have names, licences numbers and addresses etc..
- If your house is broken into, or your car is stolen, this person may gain a fair amount of information about you and your lifestyle.
If any of these things happen to you, a lot of information about you and your family can be stolen and used to steal your identity and hack into your other accounts.
Using one password for everything can be a disaster waiting to happen! If someone hacks into one account; they have them all.
To avoid all this; you can use a password manager
I have used a password manager for many years; without a single breach of any of my passwords. The advantage is: you only have to remember one master password to access the app. The app can create and remember all the other passwords you need.
My recomendation is a password manager called, LastPass
- Available at lastpass.com
- Available for Apple and Android Devices
- Works on Apple and Windows Computers too
Now, if you’re ready, let’s create a master password
LastPass has suggested these passphrase ideas from this article on their website; how to create a strong password
- mydogfido’sbirthdayisnovember19
- yellowcatbaseball…newyork
- myvacation2paris-wasincredible
- soexcitedtoStartCollege!thisfall
The thing is, these are pass-phrases, part of a sentence, a statement of something only you would know, mixed in with characters such as hyphens, apostrophise, exclamation points, ellipsis, full stops and numbers. It could be your favourite book, flowers or a car you owned many years ago.
Things to keep in mind
- You will have to type this in to access the LastPass App, every time you want to use it.
- Without a finger scanner on your phone it can get annoying.
Slides for Installing Last Pass on Your Android
Device (8 slides)
