Identity theft is a complex crime. It usually starts with some grain of information about you, then with a little attention an identity thief finds a way to gain access to other grains of information until they have enough to impersonate you, gain access to your credit accounts, and in general create havoc in your life.
The key to preventing identity theft, is pay attention to details. Details like what you carry in your wallet and how you create passwords can make all the difference when it comes to preventing identity theft. Passwords, in particular, can make the difference between a stolen identity and a thief that gets frustrated and moves on to an easier-to-access victim.
Your passwords online really are the key to your identity. Behind your password is personal information that’s worth a fortune to the right buyer. And if you’re protecting that information with your date of birth, your children’s dates of birth, or your anniversary, then you’re not nearly as protected as you might think you are.
Here are three ways to ensure that you’ve got the strongest passwords possible:
- Use letters and numbers. No doubt you’ve heard this one a few times, but it really is one of the best ways to create a strong password. Use both letters and numbers; at least 8 of them. And avoid using birth dates, anniversaries, or social security numbers. Also avoid using whole words. One of the best ways to create a strong password is to think of a phrase that can represented numerically. For example, “The sun is yellow,” can become DSOnY3l0. Think in terms of the cool personalized license plates you see on the road. Then, just make sure it’s something that you can remember.
- Avoid sequences and repeated characters. Sometimes, longer isn’t better. Specifically, longer isn’t better if the letters and numbers that you use are sequential or repeated. For example, “123456789” isn’t hard for a hacker to break. Neither is “AAAAAAAA.” Use the entire keyboard when you’re creating a password, including symbols such as the dollar sign, the percent sign, and the ampersand, and try not to use the same letter, number, or symbol more than one time per password.
- Don’t use the same password everywhere. Even a strong password is useless if it’s cracked. And if you use the same password on every web site that you access, then you’re exponentially increasing your risk of identity theft. Instead, create a different password for every site that you access. It’s a lot of work, but think of the workout that your memory will get. It also makes it much harder for identity thieves to gain access to large chunks of your personal data.
Passwords truly are your keys to the kingdom. Create strong passwords, then keep them safe. And if you aren’t sure that the passwords that you’ve created are strong enough, you can always try them out with the Microsoft Password Checker.