Password security - the key to personal protection

To keep your passwords secure, you need a special scheme known only to yourself. We are not talking about a single password, but a whole set of passwords that need to be regularly changed on all your key sites.

It will take some time to provide individual password security - for the preparatory work. But once that password-changing system is in place, you can quickly change and modify your password security settings. And if VPNs and cyber hygiene are the foundation of your cybersecurity, then this password security system will be your solid armor.

Hackers and botnetsWorking remotely, allowing you to bring in employees from all over the world to work in various fields, has also made "remote hacking" possible, as well as the creation of group botnets. Thus, any data you provide to some questionable company becomes a valuable asset to them, even if that data cannot be sold itself.

For example, some local hacker who gained access to your social networks will not use it directly, but if he wants to sell that data to a botnet, he will surely find buyers. Someone will use your data and information one way or another, either for commercial or political purposes, while damaging you and your personal data.

Given these risks, even for the smallest of social media accounts, you should change your passwords regularly and follow online security rules.

Simple password security rulesThese are not so much rules as they are tips. For example, even companies that care about their and your Internet security make you use multiple types of characters and letters in your password. All they really do is tell you that your password is weak or secure.

Fortunately, these tips are not difficult to follow. It allows you to get creative and form your own system for creating passwords and a scheme to update them regularly. In addition, thanks to online services that allow you to generate and save passwords, you only need to remember one password for your password manager account.

Use all possible charactersAlways make the most of all characters allowed by your provider. If it is just upper and lower case letters and numbers, you should use as many combinations as possible.

If you are allowed to use letters of different alphabets and symbols, you can create simple but unbreakable passwords from the simplest words or phrases.

Use Roman numeralsAs silly as it may sound, by alternating Roman and Arabic numerals as well as different symbols and alphabets, you can improve password security and constantly create new passwords based on current passwords. This will allow you to easily form and remember your password, while making it very difficult for someone else to guess it.

If you change your password once a month, there is no hacker in the world who can hack you, unless of course they are standing right behind you.

Online and offline listsUsing a password manager is good practice. There are very useful features here, and it's a handy way to keep all your incredibly complex passwords, without having to remember exactly which characters you used, or trying to find an exact match.

However, having a printed list of passwords is also useful, especially when you use a single master password. It will also help if there are problems with home Wi-Fi security or limited Internet access.

The key is not to forget where and what character is in your password. Therefore, it is best to create a longer master password with fewer of the same looking letters and with completely different characters.

A good way to fool anyone who tries to break into your security system is to outright lie, as well as answer the control question falsely. Someone who wants to hack you, if you happen to leave your personal information on social media, can look at the open records and find out the correct answer to the question. However, once they enter their answer, the system will block them because it will turn out to be the wrong answer.

Also, creating such a system for answering such questions is not a bad idea. The main thing is to remember exactly where you lied.

You'll probably want to restrict access to your personal information, including your IP address and personal information. You'll need a professional VPN provider to do this, as well as reliable malware protection software solutions.

But even if something happens, you'll be safe because your password can no longer be compromised.