If you’re looking for a simple way to protect your privacy and keep your online accounts secure, password security is a great place to start, especially when 61% of breaches involve compromised credentials and 85% of breaches involve a human element.
If a bad actor can guess or steal just one of your passwords, they may be able to use it to get into your other accounts. The good news is that protecting your online accounts is easier than you might think. Here’s how to use LastPass to create secure login credentials and take back control of your digital life.
How to use LastPass to generate a strong password
You can shut the door on opportunistic cyber attackers by creating a strong password for each of your online accounts. LastPass offers a password generator to instantly create a secure, random password. However, holistic education when it comes to strong passwords is essential, so here are a few tips and tricks from the pros to get you started:- Use a unique password for each and every account. This way, if there’s a breach affecting one of your accounts, your other accounts won’t be at risk.
- Avoid using similar passwords. It might be tempting to just change one word or character when updating a password, but this bad password habit actually weakens your overall password security.
- Always use strong passwords for your accounts. A strong password is at least 12 characters long and includes a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols.
- Don’t use personally identifiable information in your passwords. When you use information like your birthday or your street address in a password, you may find it easier to remember that password. The trouble is that a cyber attacker will have a much easier time guessing or cracking it, too.
- Avoid weak or commonly used passwords. According to SpyCloud's 2021 Annual Credential Exposure Report, the password “123456789" was found over 3.6 million times in data breaches. Believe it or not, "password" itself showed up over 1.2 million times. These kinds of passwords are incredibly easy to crack or guess, and cyber attackers can do it in a flash using automated tools.
- Don’t share passwords via email or text. It’s better to securely share passwords using a tool like LastPass that lets you share a hidden password with someone and even revoke it when needed.
- Change passwords when you need to. If you recently shared a password with someone or have been using the same password for a year, it’s time to update your password. If you’ve been notified that one of your accounts was involved in a breach, be sure to change your password for that account right away.
- Use a password manager. A password manager makes it easier to securely store and manage your passwords, shielding them from bad actors.
How to use LastPass to generate a strong username
Although people usually focus on passwords when talking about online account security, your username is also important. A lot of people use the same username for multiple accounts and websites. Just as with passwords, a hacker can use your username for one account to try and get into another account. Fortunately, you can help keep cyber attackers at bay by creating a strong, unique username for each of your accounts. Like the password generator, LastPass can help you create a strong username, too. Besides a username generator, here’s some advice on creating, using and securing your username.- Make sure your email usernames and bank account usernames are different. This way, it will be harder for bad actors to steal your identity and access your financial accounts.
- Never use your social security number (SSN) as a username. Social security numbers routinely end up in data breaches on the dark web. By using your social security number as a username, you could accidentally be making yourself vulnerable to identity theft.
- Consider whether your username protects your identity. A randomly generated username is often more secure than a username that uses some or all of your name because it can’t be linked to your identity as easily.
- Avoid using familiar numbers in your usernames. Usernames that include addresses and birth dates are often considered less secure because that type of information is often publicly available online.
