You might think hashed and salted is a way to order your potatoes for breakfast. But it’s not.
Hashed and Salted are technical terms and they are actions to help keep your passwords safe. Hashed means your password has been encrypted by an algorithm into a set number of characters in a string.
Salted is when additional strings of characters are added. Both of these techniques make it harder for a hacker to find and use your password to a particular site.
Due to more and more hacking leaks, more and more sites are using the hash and salt technique to keep your information safe. The problem is when signing up, or signing in, on a website, you don’t know if they use the hash and salt technique. So it’s always good for you to make your passwords safe as well.
So here are some ideas on how to make a strong password to keep your information safe. Strong passwords are difficult to hack and sometimes difficult to remember, so, we’ll also give you some ideas of how to remember them.
Making a Strong Password
A good password will be about 16 characters long and not include any identifying letters or numbers. Don’t use numbers like your birthday, the year, or repeating numbers like 777. Don’t use your name or the names of your kids or family members. Devise a system of creating passwords that is your very own, yet still random. Be sure to include capitalized letters, a character, and numbers.
Ways NOT to Remember you Password
We know that longer more secure passwords are hard to remember. And you might be tempted to do some of the following to help you remember them. But don’t. After figuring out a long and strong password, don’t give it away by doing any of the following.
1. Don’t create a file on your computer and save your passwords in it.
2. Don’t repeat your passwords using the same password on multiple sites.
3. Don’t forget to frequently change your passwords.
4. Don’t use auto-fill for usernames and passwords, turn it off.
WHY?
If you login credentials are important enough not to let someone have it, say, the login to your banking site, don’t leave it anywhere in your computer where anyone can see it. The same logic can be used for using autofill. Should someone get your hands on your computer, auto-fill can give them access to any site they want. If you use the same passwords on multiple sites if one is hacked, how many other websites can that hacker use the log in information on?
And, one great way to remember your passwords, and a great way to make them unique: Make them a sentence that you can remember.
For example, My Favorite Movie is Die Hard 2 With Bruce Willis and Dennis Franz. Mfm1DH2wbw&DFr4nz
Or try this password generator: http://passwordsgenerator.net/
How to Manage Your Passwords
Of course, we want you to be able to remember your password. Some of them are free as well. These password managers remember your passwords for you. They save your passwords in the cloud and all you need to do is remember one, strong and long password – the password to get into the software.
On the flip side, again, using one password for a managed password software, you do run the risk of someone finding that one password and then being able to hack every account saved in the manager.
And in doing our research we were actually surprised to hear that going old school is still fairly secure. Keeping your login information for websites on a piece of paper. Be cautioned to not keep that piece of paper next to your computer or somewhere easily found.
By now you may have noticed that none of these precautions are infallible. But know that as hackers get smarter and as security creates more ways to encrypt and secure your data, the best person to secure your information is you.
At Talon, we’re the technology experts, so you don’t have to be. We make sure that your business is tech-savvy and cutting edge, without a second thought from you. It all starts with a conversation.