Stop using the same two passwords

Fun fact:

Google will actually notify you if one of your passwords or login credentials has been compromised due to a security breach of one of the company’s services. That way, you can quickly change your passwords or salvage any sensitive information you don’t want floating around.

Do you know why else Google tells you that? Because we’re creatures of habit, and unfortunately, we’re likely to have used that now-leaked information on other websites.

A 2019 Google and Harris Poll study found that 65% of web users reuse their passwords on multiple websites, with 13%, specifically, using the same password on ALL websites. As I said, creatures of habit.

I wish I was exaggerating with this, but did you know that a quarter of us use the same exact passwords for everything? NordPass — the same company that’s responsible for NordVPN and other online security measures — did a study last year to find the most common passwords people use.

While I raise an eyebrow at the company’s ethicality for the study, they’ve got a point. The top 200 passwords we all use have been run into the ground. NordPass also shows how quickly their software was able to crack these passwords, some taking less than a second to do so. In NordPass’ words, “Despite growing cybersecurity awareness, old habits die hard.”

Take a second and go check out the website. If your password’s on there, I’m not going to tell you what you should do. You already know.

(Disclaimer: I will say that I felt a sort of weird kinship with the people who also used #88 on the list. I used that quite a bit in high school, and though I’ve changed my password since then, it never fails to make me laugh.)

I could tell you about all the different “password saver” apps and security keys under the sun, but first and foremost, can we stop using the same password for our Facebook and bank accounts? I’m beginning to think we deserve to get hacked, what with the amount of fraud that happens simply because we unwittingly share our passwords with the world.

THEN we can worry about how to avoid getting our credit card info stolen, or how to figure out who shared our Netflix password with a random cousin.

Source: Pexels