Main content
Course: Internet safety > Unit 1
Lesson 2: Ask Google: How do I keep my account safe?- How to keep your online accounts secure
- Why creating a strong password really matters
- Yes, you need a password manager. Here’s why.
- How adding your phone number and 2-factor authentication helps protect your account
- How can I review the security of my account?
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Why creating a strong password really matters
What is a “strong password”, exactly? What are some ways that you can create a password that is strong and easy to remember - but difficult for others to guess? To learn more about how you can keep yourself safe while on the Internet, visit: internet-safety.khanacademy.org. Created by Sal Khan.
Want to join the conversation?
What's a good way to keep a strong password?(17 votes)
Here are some tips for creating and maintaining strong passwords:
1. Length: The longer the password, the stronger it is. Aim for at least 12 characters or more.
2. Complexity: Use a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Avoid using easily guessable information like your name, address, or date of birth.
3. Uniqueness: Don't reuse passwords for multiple accounts. If one password is compromised, all of your accounts are at risk.
4. Phrase: Instead of a random jumble of characters, consider using a passphrase made up of random words. It's easier to remember and still secure if the words are unrelated and not easily guessable.
5. Update regularly: It's a good practice to change your passwords every 3-6 months or if you suspect your account may have been compromised.
6. Use a password manager: A password manager can help you generate and store strong, unique passwords for all of your accounts. Just remember to use a strong master password for the password manager itself.(30 votes)
- 0:15
What is one big way to keep your password secure and strong?(13 votes)
Write them down somewhere safe or keep them easily rememberable. Never tell anyone your passwords, ever, unless you can totally trust them (because then they would be able to change it and essentially take your account over). Also, never use the same password -- this is like a duh but people still do it (human idiocy, of course)(16 votes)
What happens if you forget your password because it's so strong and long(10 votes)
I do that too many times so I understand that. The only way I can remember is to write it down somewhere safe. Or you can keep clues around, for example if your password is cupcake123 (not a strong password) you can keep a picture of a cupcake somewhere you study.(12 votes)
- How can u make a really strong password without knowing that other people can get your password because when u get done logging in it says would u like to save your password and it says save or not now what are u supposed pick?(8 votes)
I recommend not letting the website save unless it's on a computer you know is secure. If that isn't an option, using a secure password saver is another good choice too, especially if you have a lot of passwords to keep track of.(6 votes)
- what are some examples of good passwords?(6 votes)
- If you're having trouble making good passwords, many password-savers have password generators built in, which is better than a human making a password since humans are not good at complete randomness like a computer is.(1 vote)
They forgot to mention that there are these programs that try every number, punctuation, and letters unil it finds your password. They'd have to be desperate, though.(6 votes)
That is not desperate it is what every hacker tries to do. First, they try getting your personal info then using that. E.g. Your favorite Color, B-day, Name, Spouse. Then if that doesn't work, most will either give up or create a program that works tirelessly withe very combination.(1 vote)
- a password manger is to expensive.(5 votes)
Using password managers is a must to safeguard your passwords. You can find multiple free alternatives online. I have personally used Bitwarden for over a year now, and it has been an exceptional choice.(2 votes)
would the year of my birth a bad pasword?(4 votes)
yes. your name, birthday, favorite color, pet name, favorite book series, etc. are all usually bad passwords. what if somebody you trust, someone who is close to you tries hacking into your account? if your password is something like "purple1998", then you're most likely going to be hacked.(3 votes)
Can u hide your acount?(3 votes)
Hi!
You could use a VPN or go into Incognito mode on your computer or phone
-Ryder(3 votes)
- bro hackers can hack a multi-million dollar company with a smart phone and a tv i dont think thay wll go arter a some one that trys to not show up online(3 votes)
First and foremost those Companies could have very good defenses (firewall,VPN,etc..)
Second of all They don't always go for big fish, seeing as that can get them caught more easily...
Third of all Sometimes they will hack you because your server is more accessible...
Fourth of all They could just be putting in common usernames into WhatWeb (one of many hacking tools) and find your e-mail then bruteforcing (bruteforcing is a thing that can find your password by continuosly running through numbers,letters,and symbols till they find your password)at random
Hope this was enlightening!(3 votes)
0:15Video transcript
- All right, Guemmy. So as, as long as I can
remember on the internet, you know, there's always
been, you create passwords, and I feel like every
year they're asking me to create more and more hard or more difficult to remember passwords. Why is this happening? And and why is just the password creation process so important? - Yeah, so basically
your password is really that key to the front door of your house. And we have to make sure
that your password is unique, and it's also very strong. As you can imagine, if
you use the same key across all of the houses in the universe, then everybody would have that key and they can get into your house as well. And so it is really important to make sure that not only that you
have a strong password, but for all of those accounts
that you do care about each of them are
different from each other. - Right. And there's certain accounts that, I mean it is a good
model. I do this, okay. If someone were to get
access to this account, how bad is it? My banking account, my social media, those are pretty important. So I wanna make sure I have
super strong passwords there. Well, if it's something
that's a little bit more frivolous or something, and it's not the end of the
world someone has access, right now you always see these rules you know, at least this many characters a number, a letter, uppercase, lowercase. Why do we keep getting
all these constraints being put on our passwords? - Well, the whole point of
it is to make the password as hard to guess as possible. So you don't wanna, you
know, use common words or things that can get easily guessed. And it's actually very common for users to use their names or their
pet names or birthdays. These are things that
attackers can also guess and will try to get into
your accounts as well. That being said, the way that we keep safe online I think the advice has
changed over the years. And so it actually you
don't actually have to change your password that often as long as you know that
there hasn't been a compromise and that you do have a strong password. And it's also okay to
like write your password even on a post-it if you like. But sometimes just being practical is the best way to encourage people to actually have these stronger passwords that they actually can
remember and keep up with. - That's super helpful.