Maximize the protection of your online account by choosing stronger passwords
Passwords rule the internet life. Without (a correct) password, you can hardly do anything with your online account. Passwords are the first (and last) line of defense against unauthorized use of an online account. If your password is compromised, your online account will no longer be considered safe and would be vulnerable to unauthorized use.
So don’t think of passwords as just numbers or letters or try to make them as convenient as possible. Instead choose passwords that offer the maximum protection without sacrificing convenience. So put account protection ahead of convenience.
A quick tip
When it comes to choosing passwords, it’s all about choosing a code that is only known to you. So it should be something difficult (if not a challenge) for someone else to guess.
With that in mind, when you choose a Swapire password, make sure it is something that is difficult to guess or is just plain obvious. Here are some guidelines to follow when choosing a password:
- Make your password to between 8 and 12 characters. So for instance, A7ftqKf8, kf3qAS23, and so on.
- Make your password to have mix uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Use numbers in your password
- Try using acronyms. Pick an event, a movie title, or something else memorable and make a random password out of it. So "I graduated in 2008 from High Tech School" becomes igi2fhts.
Additionally, you can maximized the protection of your Swapire or any online account by avoiding these common mistakes:
- Choosing obvious password. Don’t let your password be too obvious. When you are asked for a password, your first thought is probably to choose something convenient such as your date of birth, your first name, or name of famous person or movie title, and so on. So avoid passwords that are easy to guess.
- Telling someone of your password. Don’t share your password with anyone else. The computers are clueless to who is typing the passwords. So if your friend is typing your password with or without your consent, he/she will be granted access to freely use your account (regardless of your intent).
- Using single words. Don’t use words such as trade, swap, or apple. These words can be found in computer’s dictionary. A program that uses the word dictionary to guess passwords can potentially detect a password that only consists of just a single word.
- Overusing of a password. Don’t use the same password everywhere. If your passwords lands in the wrong hands, not one but many account will be vulnerable if you use one password for all online accounts.
- Making the password same as something else in the registration information. So a first name or last name is not a strong password. Also, avoid using the word "password" as a password!
- Writing the password near your computer desk. Writing down of the password in a secure place such as your house is probably fine but it may not be so in a work place or public setting. If possible, avoid writing down the password.
Hopefully, this information will help you choose stronger passwords to maximize the protection on your online accounts including at Swapire.