How to choose a secure password

Choosing a secure password for your accounts is your first line of defense against hackers and data theft. Whether it’s your mobile banking password, your email password, or your Instagram password, they all need to be unique and complex enough to be difficult to hack. 

Most hackers have programs and algorithms that help them hack an account using AI, meaning your account could be compromised in just minutes if your password isn’t secure.

Below is a chart from Hive Systems Security displaying what type of characters you use and how easy or difficult it is for an AI program to hack it.

As you can see from the chart above, the longer your password is, using complex symbols and a combination of upper and lowercase lettering, the safer your account is.

Below is a list of additional tips on choosing a secure password:

• Use a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, as well as numbers and symbols.
• Don’t use common password themes that are easily found online, like children’s names, pet’s names, birthdays or anniversaries.
• Make your password long – the longer it is the longer it will take to hack.
• Change your passwords often – similarly to how you change your toothbrush every 3 months, remember to also change your passwords!
• Make each of your accounts have a unique password.
• Use special characters in your passwords – like !@#$%^&*

While no password is totally impenetrable, the more complex your password, the better your chances of keeping your accounts secure. Follow the above tips to set your accounts up securely.