Your Passwords Are Not Secure

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Your passwords are not secure

In 2014, CNN reported that 47% of American adults had their personal information stolen by hackers in just a 12 month period. Since then data breaches have only gotten worse. It is now 2019, and it is time to make sure your online accounts are safe. Using a password like your birthday or your dog’s name is no longer safe and most simple passwords can be cracked by the average computer in under a second. Even worse, online companies are now being hacked all the time. Websites you thought were secure like: Yahoo, Target and eBay have had data breaches that have resulted in over 3 billion peoples’ passwords being stolen. Now that hackers have these passwords they won't just login into your Yahoo, Target, and eBay accounts but any other site where you use the same password too. Now you are probably wondering: how do I keep my online accounts safe? What is a good password? Do I need to use a different password for every site? In this article, we will show you how to keep your online accounts secure and your personal information away from hackers. 

The key to keeping your online accounts safe is to use a complex password and never to use the same password for more than one website. The easiest way to do this is to get a good password manager. Password managers do the following to keep your online accounts safe:

1. Generate complex passwords that hackers can't crack
2. Provide you with a different password for each website you use, so if a hacker breaks into one of your accounts, they don’t have the password for all your accounts
3. Safely store all your passwords, so you do not need to remember them
4. Sync your passwords between all your devices, so you have them everywhere

The best part is, password managers keep all your data encrypted, which makes it nearly impossible to hack, and much safer than the practices most of us use to manage our passwords.

Here is a list of the top password managers so you can find the one that is best for you:

LastPass (https://www.lastpass.com/)

Price: Free or $2/month

Available on: iPhone, Android, Mac, and Windows

Key Features:

• Stores unlimited passwords
• Automatically fills in your login information when you go on websites saving you time
• Generates secure passwords
• Allows for the storing of notes in addition to passwords
• Will warn you when a website you are logging into is fake and just trying to steal your login information
• A setting that allows a loved one to access all your passwords in the case of an emergency

Dashlane (https://www.dashlane.com/)

Price: Free to $9.99/month

Available on: iPhone, Android, Mac, and Windows

Key Features:

• Stores 50 passwords with the free version and unlimited with the $4.99/month version
• Generates secure passwords
• Automatically fills in your login information when you go on websites saving you time
• Stores notes safely
• Alerts you when a website you use has been hacked
• A setting that allows a loved one to access all your passwords in the case of an emergency

RoboForm (https://www.roboform.com/)

Price: Free or $1.99/month

Available on: iPhone, Android, Mac, and Windows

Key Features:

• Stores unlimited passwords
• Generates secure passwords
• Automatically fills in your login information when you go on websites saving you time
• Store notes safely

Keeper (https://keepersecurity.com/)

Price: $2.50/month (has a free trial)

Available on: iPhone, Android, Mac, and Windows

Key Features:

• Stores unlimited passwords
• Generates secure passwords
• Automatically fills in your login information when you go on websites saving you time
• Stores notes, photos and files safely
• Safely and securely message people using KeeperChat
• Alerts you when a website you use has been hacked
• A setting that allows a loved one to access all your passwords in the case of an emergency

Learn more about keeping your accounts secure with one of our step-by-step guides

Password Management Best Practices

What is Two-Step Verification?

How Do I Protect Myself While Shopping Online?