Using Unique Passwords

When you sign up for a new website, do you type the same password that you use on every other website? Do you use a common phrase? Perhaps your child’s name or birthdate, or some combination of those items. If this is what you’re doing for your passwords, then it’s time to make a change.

By using a common password on all of your sites, you’re setting yourself up for potential disaster. As an adult, and parent, you’re potentially risking not only your own information, but that of your entire family. While it is super convenient to reuse the same password everywhere, it’s also super convenient for someone to get hold of that information and login to all of your websites.

If you think from a thief’s perspective, they want to get hold of your usernames and passwords. This may allow them to get into your bank account, health records, or any other potentially valuable website. If they're able to get into these sites with your credentials, they have now gained access to a wealth of information.

As a thief, I would want to get your username and password from the easiest place possible. I’m not going to walk into a high security prison most likely to get that information. I’m going to walk into the mom and pop store in the middle of nowhere. 

The high security prison in this case is your bank or health provider (hopefully). They are spending a lot of money on security. The mom and pop store is that random forum or blog that you signed up on to discuss parenting, or some other favorite topic. They are not spending as much money or focus on security of your login data.

If you’re using the same username and password on both websites, you’ve now opened yourself up to having your login for your bank taken because you’ve left those exact same pieces of information on another website. A lot of websites have poor practices when it comes to your usernames and passwords. They store them in a way that anyone that gets access to the list can see them, or other insecure manners. If a hacker is able to gain access to that list, they now have your username and password.

I should mention that it’s not just small websites that have usernames and passwords taken by hackers. Very big companies also have usernames and passwords stolen pretty often. I’m just using small websites as an example here.

Instead of using the same login information on every website, it’s much safer to use a different password on every website. By doing so, a hacker is not able to use your password to access another website. They have your password, but it’s completely random from another website, so it doesn’t help them to gain access to that website.

While it may sound complicated, it’s actually pretty easy to have unique passwords on each website. There are a lot of options for using a system that stores all of your passwords. My favorite is LastPass, but there are other options as well: Keepass and 1Password, for example.

The idea behind all of these applications is the same. The application will generate a random password for you on every website, and then it will store that password in a password vault. The password vault is made secure by using a password that you choose. This is your master password, and it should be very strong, and a password that you do not use anywhere else. If a hacker were to gain access to your master password and vault, they would have all of your login information. However, since you only have to remember one password, it should be easy enough to make it extra strong and unique (believe me, you want to).

All of these applications have systems that run on your computer and on your phone that will allow them to fill in your password into different websites and apps. You don’t actually have to memorize unique passwords for every website. It makes it completely seamless for logging in, and keeps your data safe.

If you’re still unsure, I’d recommend diving in and giving it a try. You don’t have to completely move to an application, but start by creating new sites with unique passwords that you save in a password vault. Make sure you understand how it works, and don’t forget your master password as there’s no “Reset Password” option on these password vaults.

You absolutely need to take the security of your username and passwords seriously. It can mean the difference between having to deal with huge identity theft issues, or other critical information being stolen, and sleeping soundly at night. Take the step now to make your family's life safer.