How secure is your password?

Password security is becoming a more integral part to our everyday lives. The majority of people reading this will use very common passwords, rarely more than 8 characters in length and often a word that is closely linked to themselves. So what can we do to protect our online identities especially when everything we seem to do nowadays requires a login, not to mention they are all supposed to be different. Well here are a few easy steps to help you to a more secure online world:

1. Avoid family member names, pets, memorable dates etc
2. Avoid the “remember my password” option in your browser, it’s generally not that safe.
3. Prepare a unique “Master Password” (for point 4) – and never forget it…
   • Use a random/foreign/made up word/sentence
   • Combination of Upper/Lower case letters
   • Use numbers and Special Characters
4. Set up a password manager – We recommend LastPass Then you will only ever have to remember your “Master Password” (doesn’t that make life easy)
5. Use 2 factor authentication whenever it is made available to you: This adds an extra layer of security by using a phone application such as Google Authenticator as an additional password check when you log in for the first time on a new browser. The below applications are a few that use this method.
   1. Lastpass
   2. Gmail
   3. Dropbox

Lets take a look at some passwords concepts for a “Master Password”

Bad Idea	Getting Better	Respectable	Congratulations – You’re one of us
james1	J@m3s746	+!J@M&5]#597	T@K3@L0ngS3^t@nc3&ampMa|<!tUR0\/\//\/ (Take a long sentence and make it your own)
bruno9	Brun0613	Bru^0!+29466
facebook01	F@c3B00k530	/*F@c3B0O|<*/874