GREENSBORO, N.C. — Yes, we know the password joke, 123456. Unfortunately, it's not a joke to all. But whatever password you use, you shouldn't use the same password for several different accounts.
In a new survey, 24% of people admit to using the same passwords across multiple accounts.
"To best protect your information, your passwords need to be long, unique, and random. We're talking 12 to 16 characters," said Bree Fowler, CNET, Senior Writer for Cybersecurity.
You might think your password is unique until you hear how common most of us are.
"It's a lot easier to crack a password than most people think. Humans have a tendency to create passwords in formats that require a capital letter, a number, and a special symbol. Humans who speak English will put the capital letter at the beginning, then a lowercase letter, then the number, then the special character," said Joseph Steinberg, a Cybersecurity expert.
Don't do the norm. There are all kinds of tricks for coming up with passwords. Steinberg likes to use phrases and unusual names and uses a special character or number in the middle.
My trick is to change it to something you're looking forward to, for example, a vacation, a birthday, or a holiday. One of my passwords was Redwood Park, but I typed it out this way: redwooDp%rk22.
Experts agree it's hard to remember a slew of special passwords. CNET recommends several password managers including: 1Password, Keeper, Bitwarden, NordPass, and Dashlane. Their top overall pick is one called Bitwarden.
"They have a really great free tier. You only have to remember one password, and that'll unlock all of your passwords and auto-fill them," said Fowler.
Even with the password manager, you should also use two-factor authentication whenever possible. For example-- when you get a code via text make sure it's really you.
A non-technology way to keep your ID safe is the WFMY News 2 Shred-A-Thon. It's Tuesday, May 14 from 4 pm until 7 pm at the Greensboro Coliseum. You can bring 3 boxes or bags of documents to be shredded by the Pro-Shred trucks.
