Watch out
6 Password Mistakes Hackers Love
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Thefts or other attacks on the Internet are increasing. How to protect yourself to make it as difficult as possible for cybercriminals.
In 2019 there were around 17.7 million victims of cybercrime in Germany, which also had financial implications for those affected. “Cybercrime” includes, among other things, attempts at fraud with a false e-mail address, booked accommodation that does not even exist – or the theft of personal data and passwords, which give hackers, among other things, access to profiles in social networks or bank accounts.
According to the “Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland”, not only is the number of people affected increasing, but also the number of online perpetrators. In order not to make it so easy for them, we should use these typical password error avoid:
When you use the same password over and over again
Many people are probably already aware that online crimes become easier if you use the same password in many portals (or even all). It can happen that the attackers gain access to several pages at once. Also popular: Not to generate passwords from scratch, but to use the old password again and again with a small change. For example another number or another character. But these small changes are usually not a problem for cybercriminals. With the help of software, repetitions can be quickly compared with other characters.
What you can do: Create individual passwords for each of your accounts. This might be tiring, but a password manager can help you create and navigate your own library.
If you don’t use a password manager
A password manager can strengthen your security measures. It fills in your password directly in the appropriate fields when you access the pages. Even with phishing links that try to steal personal information from us, the manager can detect the discrepancy with an access exercised by you and prevent the automatic login. Das offers tips on how to recognize phishing links, emails or websites Federal Ministry for Security in Information Technology.
What you can do: Find a password manager that suits you. in the Chip test 2022 1Password, Enpass and Bitwarden performed best (from 9.10 euros).
When you create passwords with personal information
Passwords that are difficult to guess offer you really good protection. Good passwords don’t include information like your name or birthday. An alternative could be, for example, your favorite song with a combination of numbers or your favorite order in a restaurant.
What you can do: Create passwords that are at least 12 characters long and don’t use overtly personal information. It should also be something that you can remember well and include characters or numbers in addition to letters.
If you only create individual passwords for “important accounts”.
We should never underestimate the impact cyberattacks can have on less relevant accounts. Not only our online banking data is important, because other sites can be a stepping stone for criminals to get more data. For example, your email address or phone number alone can be misused for verification steps on other accounts.
What you can do: Protect all your accounts, not just the ones you think contain sensitive information, with a unique password.
If you don’t use multi-factor authentication
It may be annoying to enter the password first, to answer a question or to enter an SMS code in a further step. But it creates an additional protection for your accounts. Because not only your username and password are relevant when you log in. This makes it harder for hackers:
What you can do: Not every service offers multi-factor authentication, but where possible, they make your data more secure.
If you’re careless with passwords
Many think that cyber attacks will not hit them. But we should be aware that there can be consequences for being careless with our data, ranging from financial loss to identity theft. It is therefore important that we are prepared.
What you can do: Do not think that you are safe because you are not one of the high earners and protect yourself from possible attacks. Adopt authentication methods and get used to them.
Sources used: Statista, Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland, Federal Ministry for Information Security, chip.de, CNBC make it