Beefing Up Your Online Security (or “How to Get Hackers to Hate You”)

If you’re anything like me, you have dozens of accounts for websites and services in all corners of the internet. And, like me, you may find it impossible to keep track of a different password for all of those accounts, so you end up either:

a)      Using the same password for every website.

b)      Writing them down.

Neither of which are very safe options, and since we’re potentially talking about access to my bank account, safety is important!

I have a trick that will help you create unique, nearly impossible-to-crack passwords that are still easy to remember.

1.      Be Unique!

If your password is “123456,” “password,” “letmein,” or the name of the website, change it. Now. There are lists of the most commonly used passwords all over the web, and hackers love them. Choose something memorable to you that would be difficult for anyone else to guess. Kids’ names and birthdays are easy for hackers to track down. Pick something obscure but meaningful to you like your favorite high school teacher’s name or where you went for your honeymoon.

For example, I’ll choose my grandmother’s maiden name, st laurent.

2.      Create a Code

Come up with a set of rules to make your password harder to guess. For mine, I’ll:

- Replace the letter “e” with the number 3

- Always capitalize the letter “T”

- Replace the letter “a” with an @ symbol

- Replace spaces with an exclamation mark, !

So my password becomes:  sT!l@ur3nT

Still memorable for me, but impossible for anyone to guess.

3.     Make it Site Specific

Even on my best days I couldn’t keep track of more than two or three passwords like the one above, but I have dozens of accounts. So, I’ll keep the same root password and alter it to be site specific. I’ll do this by adding on the name of the site associated with the account and applying my rules from Step 2.

My gmail password would be:  sT!l@ur3nTgm@il

 4.      Create Alternate Root Password For Different Types of Sites

This step is optional, but recommended. Oftentimes I find I’m required to make an account for a website I’m not familiar with. I want access to the content, but I’m not sure that I trust the source. This is where it’s dangerous to use the same password for every website. Some sites are designed specifically to capture your username and password to use to compromise your other web accounts. So, I’d recommend using two separate root password systems: one for important websites that you know and trust, like email or bank accounts, and another for sites you’re not familiar with.

Your new passwords may not be as simple or as easy to type as “password” or “123456,” but your security on the internet is absolutely worth it! Does anyone have any other tips for staying secure on the web?