#CyberAware Passphrases and Password Managers - Tips

October 18, 2022

Submitted By: Gregory Freidline

#CyberAware Password Tips:

You are often told your passwords are key to protecting your accounts (which is true!), but rarely are you given a simple way to securely create and manage all your passwords.

The days of crazy, complex passwords are over. Those passwords are hard to remember and difficult to type, and with today’s super-fast computers can be easy for a cyber attacker to crack. The key to passwords is to make them long; the more characters you have the better. These are called passphrases.

One approach to using a passphrase would be to follow these three steps:

Start with a sentence or list of words. Like “one ring to rule them all” or “flower petal tree leaf”. Leave the spaces, most current password systems allow a space, that can count as a special character.
Add in capital letters “one Ring to rule them all” or “Flower Petal Tree Leaf”
Finally, mix in numbers “1 Ring to rule them all” or “Fl0wer Petal Tree Leaf”

These both have uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. The first passphrase here is 23 characters long the second is 22 characters. Making both of these very strong passwords while remaining easy to remember and type.

For more information on using passphrases and other tips about online security, please download the attached newsletter below. Remember, you are free and in fact encouraged to share these materials with others, including your family, friends, and neighbors.

You need a unique password for every account. If you reuse the same password for multiple accounts, you are putting yourself in great danger. All a cyber attacker needs to do is hack a website you use, steal all the passwords including yours, then use your password to log in to all your other accounts as you. It happens far more often than you realize. Don’t believe it? Check out the website www.haveibeenpwned.com to see what sites you use that have been hacked and your passwords potentially compromised. So, what should you do? Use a password manager.

These are special computer programs that securely store all your passwords in an encrypted vault. You only need to remember one password: the one for your password manager. The password manager then automatically retrieves your passwords whenever you need them and logs you into websites for you. They also have other features such as storing your answers to secret questions, warning you when you reuse passwords, a password generator that ensures you use strong passwords, and many other features. Most password managers also securely sync across almost any computer or device, so regardless of what system you are using you have easy, secure access to all your passwords.

Finally, be sure to write down the password to your password manager and store that in a secure location at home.

Remember, you are free and in fact encouraged to share these materials with others, including your family, friends, and neighbors.