In the new year, you probably have at least one resolution, perhaps multiple, but are any of them focused on improving your online security? Given that 2016 was the year of the breach and it's prime resolution season, now is the perfect time to check out the health of your online accounts and make the small, yet critical improvements that will help protect your digital life from being compromised in inevitable future attacks.
The quickest way to get a holistic look at your accounts, and access to the tools to fix them, is with the LastPass Security Challenge. As digital consumers, we have SO many passwords and storing and accessing them in a password manager is a great first step. But now let’s talk about the passwords themselves. Are you using compromised passwords, duplicate passwords, or are there are ways to improve the strength of your passwords? The Security Challenge will tell you.
The Security Challenge in your LastPass account analyzes your stored sites and passwords for a few critical issues, including:
Compromised Sites - First up, you’re prompted to change the password for any sites that have been part of any recent breaches. For example, if you have a Dropbox or Yahoo account, LastPass will recommend you update those passwords. You want to be sure you update not only that specific account, but also any accounts that also use the same password that was compromised in any breaches.
Weak Passwords - Next, you’ll see all of your weak passwords. Ditch your birthday, first dog's name (RIP), and your mom's maiden name. All of your passwords should be at least 12 characters, include different types of characters, such as upper & lowercase, symbols, and numbers, and most importantly each password should be unique.
Reused Passwords - Speaking of unique, the next step shows you all passwords that you’re reusing. Yup, it’s probably a lot, but knowing how dangerous it is to reuse passwords, it’s worth every minute it takes to update those account passwords. Plus, just think of how much higher your Security Challenge score will be when you’re done. Show me the green!
Old Passwords - Finally, the Security Challenge identifies passwords that you haven’t updated in a long time. While you’re on the password cleansing warpath, you might as well update those passwords too!
BONUS Points - An easy way to up your score? Add multifactor authentication (MFA) to your LastPass account and receive an additional 10 points to your Security Challenge score. Multifactor authentication adds an extra step to the login process by requiring that you accept a push notification or enter a six-digit code received via SMS in order to receive access to your LastPass account. This means that even if someone manages to get your master password, they can only get into your account if they have the device where you enabled MFA. Here's a
&t=2s"> few more reasons why you should turn on MFA, and then head to your Account Settings to get it setup.
There’s no doubt that improving the security of your online accounts is a big task, but it’s an important one. And when you’re done, beyond the peace of mind that your information is more protected, you get to run that Security Challenge again and see how high your score has gone! Onward and upward!
Start the LastPass Security Challenge today (found in the left-hand menu in your vault) to see where password weaknesses are, get them corrected, and watch your score get higher and higher. - Stored sites that have been part of a known breach, such as Yahoo or LinkedIn
- Reused passwords
- Weak passwords
Compromised Sites - First up, you’re prompted to change the password for any sites that have been part of any recent breaches. For example, if you have a Dropbox or Yahoo account, LastPass will recommend you update those passwords. You want to be sure you update not only that specific account, but also any accounts that also use the same password that was compromised in any breaches.
Weak Passwords - Next, you’ll see all of your weak passwords. Ditch your birthday, first dog's name (RIP), and your mom's maiden name. All of your passwords should be at least 12 characters, include different types of characters, such as upper & lowercase, symbols, and numbers, and most importantly each password should be unique.
Reused Passwords - Speaking of unique, the next step shows you all passwords that you’re reusing. Yup, it’s probably a lot, but knowing how dangerous it is to reuse passwords, it’s worth every minute it takes to update those account passwords. Plus, just think of how much higher your Security Challenge score will be when you’re done. Show me the green!
Old Passwords - Finally, the Security Challenge identifies passwords that you haven’t updated in a long time. While you’re on the password cleansing warpath, you might as well update those passwords too!
BONUS Points - An easy way to up your score? Add multifactor authentication (MFA) to your LastPass account and receive an additional 10 points to your Security Challenge score. Multifactor authentication adds an extra step to the login process by requiring that you accept a push notification or enter a six-digit code received via SMS in order to receive access to your LastPass account. This means that even if someone manages to get your master password, they can only get into your account if they have the device where you enabled MFA. Here's a