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These simple password rules practically eliminate being scammed

October 6, 2024    Written by Jeromy

I frequently update my passwords rules based on trends I’ve been seeing. Recently I’ve noticed an uptick in the number of fraud cases based on stolen passwords. I created this slide show based on my current findings.

20 years ago when I started this the rules were much simpler. We used challenge questions like, “What was the street you grew up on?” Today we need to be much more vigilant to make sure that even if our passwords end up on the dark web our accounts can’t be accessed.

Passwords must be at least 10 characters
There is a 1/150,000,000,000,000,000 chance someone can guess it
Passwords must contain upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols
Symbols: !,@,$,%,^, etc.
Passwords must not be logical
Using a password like Smith2022! is too easy to guess. Instead jumble it up to make it harder to guess. 5Mi+h2oZz! is much harder
Never use the same password on different sites
If a hacker were to get a password for one site, they would have access to all of them
Do not save passwords on your devices
Saved passwords can be easily accessed
Use 2 factor authentication
Combined with a strong password, 2 factor authentication makes hacking into your account nearly impossible. A code is sent to your phone and must be present to log into the account
Change passwords every 2 months
Frequently changing passwords keeps them off the dark web where passwords are bought and sold
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