How to Create the Perfect Password

It seems obvious, but passwords are our first line of defense against a growing army of nefarious hackers looking to steal our data, money or even identities. While many people know how serious the issue of cybersecurity is, many still use passwords that are remarkably bad. Compounding matters is the common practice of using the same password across multiple accounts, so a hacker who gains access to one account may be able to breach others. But protecting yourself is easy and there’s just no excuse for leaving your accounts vulnerable with bad passwords.

With more and more of us shifting everyday tasks—banking, education, social interaction, even shopping for groceries—to the virtual world, securing our personal information has become more important than ever. One of the simplest ways to help protect our financial and other info from prying eyes and would-be identity thieves is to use a strong password. Yet many people take a decidedly casual approach to choosing a password, with potential disastrous results.
Much of the advice in the graphic might seem like common sense, but the frequency with which password-related breaches occur tells us that’s not the case. There are also some interesting things in there that you might not know, however. For example, the length of your password is incredibly important — a hacker can use a “bruteforce” attack to guess a 10-character password in about 1 week, while a 15-character password will take almost 1.5 million centuries to crack.
Do yourself a favor and look through the infographic below for helpful hints on how to protect yourself online.