8 Steps to Make Safe and Stronger Password, Keep Hacker Stay Away

Passwords are an important thing to have when you create social media, email, and so on. The password will be used to maintain account security to avoid a number of cybercrime acts. Therefore, you need to know the 8 steps to make safe and stronger password to protect your account.

In general, mandatory passwords consist of several characters, namely letters, numbers, and most symbols, but not spaces. There are even some accounts that require the password to be combined with upper and lower case letters.

Even though it looks easy, sometimes there are some people who forget their password and end up unable to access their account. Although it consists of many provisions, make sure you remember and recognize the password you created so that the account is not locked.

Table of Contents

What is Password?

steps to make safe and stronger password

Before discussing further about 9 steps to make safe and stronger passwords, first you need to know what a password is. The goal is to get more detailed and complete information about the definition of the password itself.

A password is a string of characters used to authenticate a user on a computer system. A simple example, when you have an account on a computer, to be able to access it, you need to enter a valid password.

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Passwords are used in many ways on the internet. For example, to log into email accounts, social media, servers, and so on. You will not be able to access these things if you do not use the correct password.

Generally passwords are made in secret combinations. So that other people do not know the password that was created. The goal is to prevent irresponsible people from accessing important data owned by users.

Besides being kept secret, passwords are generally also made according to the wishes of the user. Of course, the password creation process is adjusted to the requirements determined by the platform used.

In the process of creating a password, it is usually recommended to use a combination that is strong and not easy to guess. The combination starts from using capital letters, numbers, and so on so that passwords are not easily hacked.

Even so, there are still many users who tend to ignore the security and strength of passwords. So that the accounts they have are very easy to be hacked by irresponsible people.

Password Function

what is password functions

One of the functions of passwords is to increase the security of files, applications, servers, or networks that you want to protect so that they are not used by just anyone. Password will be used to open or access the data in its entirety.

Data in accounts related to finance is stored securely, such as mobile banking, digital wallets, e-commerce, and so on are common things that require password protection.

For information, here are some password functions that you also need to know:

  • Improve the security of information and accounts to be protected.
  • Prevent hackers from periodically accessing accounts.
  • Restrict the access that keystroke loggers have.

The very important and crucial password function makes you need to know the steps to make safe and stronger passwords to protect accounts and networks.

Password Types

steps to make safe and stronger password

Based on the application, passwords can be grouped into two types, namely 2FA and MFA. Generally, these two types have the same function, namely to secure a website or online service.

2FA (Two Factor Authentication)

One type of password that you need to know is 2FA (Two Factor Authentication). Two factor authentication (2FA) is a cyber security method that must go through two authentication stages before being able to access data. The first stage is a password, then the second stage is a special code that is sent to a particular device.

Read: What is Phishing Email and Tips How to Get Rid Off

Simply put, by activating 2FA, someone who manages to get the username and password of the website will not necessarily be able to access it because the hacker does not have a special code to confirm ownership of the website.

The existence of this 2FA will make it more difficult for hackers to break into someone’s account password. Thus, account security will be more optimal. Usually 2FA is used to protect important and crucial accounts such as email to banking applications.

MFA (Multi Factor Authentication)

The next type of password is MFA (Multi Factor Authentication). As the name implies, this password is more complex when compared to 2FA which was discussed earlier. Because MFA will involve several authentication processes before the user can log into the account.

Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) is one of the best ways to prevent hackers from gaining access to email accounts. With multifactor authentication, an email account cannot be accessed unless it has two pieces of information.

8 Steps to Make Safe and Stronger Password

how to make stronger password

After knowing what a password is and its types, you also need to make sure that the password you have is safe and strong. This is so that accounts and network security are not easily breached by irresponsible parties.

For those of you who are still confused about how to create a password, here are some steps to make a safe and stronger password that you can consider.

1. Avoid Easy-to-guess Passwords

In order to create strong and secure passwords, avoid using passwords that are easy to guess. Passwords that are easy to guess will increase the chances for hackers to be able to take your account.

Launching information from SplashData company, there are 10 types of passwords that are often used by users and are easy to guess. The types of passwords are:

  • passwords
  • 123456
  • 12345678
  • abc123
  • qwerty
  • monkey
  • letmein
  • dragon
  • 111111
  • Baseball

If you are still using that password, you should immediately replace it with another password that is more secure and stronger.

In addition, the steps to make safe and stronger passwords that need to be considered are not to create passwords using personal information such as the name of your hometown, favorite band, name of your pet, name of your husband/wife, or your date of birth.

2. Use Different Passwords for Each Account

use different password for each account

It is now commonplace to have multiple email or social media accounts. For convenience, many people then use the same password for the various accounts they have.

Although it can make it easier to remember passwords, it is quite vulnerable. Because, if one of your accounts has a known password, it will be easier for hackers to take over other accounts using the same password.

Read: What is Cracking, The Most Dangerous Cybercrime

Every password you have must be equally strong, regardless of which website or account you use. Maybe you think that securing a bank account is more important than securing a Facebook account, for example. However, hackers or other cyber criminals can still use any information contained in a Facebook account to commit crimes.

So it is very important to ensure that all accounts have secure and strong passwords. To keep all online accounts safe and secure, you must use different passwords, each of which is equally strong and unique to one another.

3. Adhere to Strong Password Requirements

The next step to make safe and stronger passwords is to comply with the requirements for strong password types. Each platform generally has its own policy regarding the use of passwords.

But usually these platforms provide instructions for making passwords using a strong combination. In addition, there are usually certain guidelines regarding the process of creating the password.

Some things to consider when you want to create a password include the use of capital letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and characters. This combination will make the password stronger and harder to crack.

Creating strong passwords with this combination will make it very difficult for hackers and any password-cracking software they may use. As explained above, use a variety of strong passwords like this for the various online accounts that you have.

4. Keep Your Password Secret

The next step to make a safe and stronger password is to make it a secret. Never share the password with other people. Also, do not write down passwords in open places that are easily accessible and found by others.

If you want to write down passwords for each account, you can create one in a safe and secret place. The goal is that the password can not be known by others easily.

5. Use Password Manager

safe password

If you find it difficult to create and remember your password, then there’s nothing wrong with using the help of Password Manager. The existence of this management tool will make it easier for you to remember and manage your account passwords.

Password managers can create or generate unique and secure passwords for and store them securely so that they are not forgotten. Don’t worry, a good management tool can also synchronize all passwords across accounts.

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If you create unique passwords for all accounts, surely you will have difficulty remembering all the passwords which of course are quite varied. Therefore, you can use the help of software such as LastPass or other password managers to manage these passwords.

The way the password manager works is quite simple, because you just need to download the password manager, then install it on your desktop or mobile and start running. You don’t even have to change passwords all at once. The downloaded management tool will watch when you log in, and ask if you want to save the new password.

6. Enable 2-Step Verification

Many services, including Facebook, Google, Twitter, Tumblr and others, allow you to enable two-step verification, also known as two-factor authentication.

Two-step verification prevents third parties from logging into your account even if they manage to steal the password. This is an added layer of security, which makes it very difficult to hack to protect the accounts you have.

7. Use Password on All Gadgets

The next steps to make safe and stronger passwords you need to know is to use passwords on all gadgets. On every cellphone or smartphone there should be personal security features such as a lockscreen. To activate it, click on the phone settings section and look for the lockscreen feature and activate it. If possible, enter a 6-digit pin, not 4-digit.

For a PC or laptop, you also need to secure it through creating a password to login. Especially if you often use public wifi. From that network, strangers can open folders on your PC or laptop. With a password already set, it can be an additional layer of security that will protect your device and data.

8. Software Update

The next steps to make safe and stronger passwords is to update the software. Most software or app stores have an automatic update function. We recommend that you do an update for the software used.

Read: What is Big Data – A Complete Introduction

When there is an update to an application or software version by the developer, it is generally an improvement from a gap in the software. The existence of these updates will be able to improve application performance and can protect against malicious threats.

The reason is, most of the hacking is done by attacking the software through knowing the weaknesses of existing apps. But if you update the app, the hacker will most likely be left behind because he knows for sure from the previous version of the app.

Conclusion

Passwords are important on every device or account. Please note that the password is used to login and access the account as it belongs. If someone else knows your password, then they can access the data on your account.

In short, a password is a string of characters used to authenticate a user on a computer system. For example, you need to use a password to log in to email, social media, and so on.

Passwords are important and confidential. Because, there are many cybercrimes that can be done if other people know your password. Therefore, it is important to know how to create a secure and strong password.

There are several ways that can be used to create a secure and strong password. Starting from using a unique password, not using the same password for each account, using a password manager, and so on.

That’s a complete discussion of the 8 steps to make safe and stronger passwords that you need to know. After reading the article, hopefully you can have a more complete knowledge of how to create a secure password.

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