Every app you use requires login confirmation, identity proof, or a password. In this digital age, we have to remember several passwords and usernames, which can be daunting. People often set easy-to-remember passwords or similar passwords for most of their accounts, which can be easy to hack.
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Remember, your Wi-Fi password is the first line of defense against your sensitive information stored online. Hackers can pose a serious cybersecurity threat if you do not have strong enough Wi-Fi protection.
How does a weak Wi-Fi password pose a threat to your online security? How can you strengthen your Wi-Fi password? Here is all you need to know.
Cybersecurity Threats
According to a survey, the most common password in 2019 was 123456. Some other common passwords in the list were qwerty, password, abc123, etc. Using such easy-to-remember passwords is equivalent to giving hackers an open invitation to hog your bandwidth by accessing your internet connection.
Spraying is one of the most commonly used hacking tactics. It involves trying to access someone’s account using some commonly used passwords. Data suggests that about 16% of all hacking attempts use this technique.
There are several creative ways your password can get stolen exposing you to cybersecurity threats like identity theft and financial fraud. Your login credentials are saved in a database that encrypts the information so it becomes difficult to hack.
In case of a data breach, this encrypted information becomes accessible to hackers. Hackers then apply techniques to decode these passwords. If the passwords are not strong enough, they can easily be stolen.
Apart from hogging your bandwidth, hackers can direct your traffic to a fraudulent website or online store giving up your financial information or identity.
Dos of Setting a Password
While setting a password you need to make sure it is not easy to hack. For a moment, put aside the thought of not being able to remember a complex password (we will get into that later), and focus on how to make your network secure. Here are a few tips to set a strong Wi-Fi password
- Choose a password that includes a mix of uppercase, lowercase, and special characters (!@#$%). You can replace the letters in a word with numbers and characters that resemble the letter like 3 in place of the letter ‘e’ and @ in place of the letter ‘a’. This will complicate the password significantly, making it difficult to guess.
- The length matters. Try to have a password that’s at least 10 letters long.
- Try not to use words that are present in the dictionary like ‘fidget spinner’, snatched, etc. This makes the password difficult to crack.
- Use random words separated via space or punctuation to make the password complicated. An example of this technique is ‘Seattle kind Coffee dark’.
- Take a random sentence and condense it into a password by taking the first two letters of each word to make a word. For example, the sentence ‘My sister’s name is Emily’ can be condensed to create the password ‘Mysinaisem’. This method was suggested by Bruce Schneier, who is an American cryptographer and computer security expert.
Don’ts of Setting a Password
Here is what NOT to do when setting a Wi-Fi password.
- Having a password based on personal details like your name, surname, date of birth, or mother’s name is not wise. Such passwords are easy to guess.
- Do not use your Wi-Fi password for other accounts. This puts all accounts at risk of being hacked in case your Wi-Fi is hacked.
- Do not keep the same password for a very long time. Try changing your password every couple of months.
Get a Password Manager!
It can be difficult to remember complicated passwords. There are so many passwords to remember, how can you commit all of them to memory? Well, there is a simple solution to this problem. Get a password manager!
A password manager is a type of software application that can store your passwords in an encrypted format. After getting a password manager, you only need to remember the main password. The password managers will automatically fill in all the login details that you have saved.
In Summary
- People often underestimate the capabilities of hackers and do not take their cybersecurity seriously. By hacking into your network, cybercriminals can hog bandwidth, access sensitive information, or attack the devices connected to the Wi-Fi. Therefore, setting a strong Wi-Fi password is important for securing your connection.
