5 Reasons Why You've Chosen the Wrong Passwords (And Need to Change Them Pronto)

You have loads of passwords and are fairly happy they are good enough to keep your personal data safe. Still, a tiny part of you has reservations. You wonder whether you could have made better choices. Then again, who would want to steal your information, anyway? It's not as though you're a prime target, or so you imagine. Maybe it's time to think again. Everyday people lose valuable information to hackers. Here are five reasons your passwords are not as foolproof as you think.

Your password's the name of your pet

Come on, really? Everyone knows it's a bad idea to select your pet's name as a password, or do they? In truth, you're not alone. Plenty of people consider "Mr Fluffy" or whatever else they call their dog, cat, or gerbil an ideal password. After all, no one dodgy will figure it out.

Hang on a minute, though, do you call "Mr Fluffy" in from the garden sometimes or post Tweets about his antics? Enough said.

You chose 123456

Number sequences, especially those that start with one, are easily guessed. A few tries and most hackers with a brain will be able to retrieve your data. People often choose numbers because they are easy to remember. Unsurprisingly, they are also easy to uncover.

Avoid your birthdate too, or the birthday of your spouse or parents, as such data is simple to discover. Also steer clear of dates of other special events like when you purchased your home or got married.

Your password is password

"Password," "apassword4u," or anything remotely similar is a poor quality choice. You might as well use "grabmydata" if you're prepared to give up your privacy so easily. Lots of people make the same mistake and think they are clever. 

Oh, and "drowssap"--see what was done there?--although an improvement is almost as bad. What about adding "abc" to "123?" Is that helpful? Yes, but only for hackers.

Your password's full of sunshine

Don't you just love the sun? Plus, you've got a sunny disposition, so it makes sense to use the word sunshine as part of your password. Just typing it makes you feel good. You'll be upset, however, when hackers cotton on to your not so secret word. You see, sunshine is so popular it's always worth a try when you're a computer hacker making an educated guess.

You think "letmein" is a good idea

"Trustme," "letmein," and "mysafeword" are highly guessable passwords. Even if you add a digit, hackers will not find getting into your data a challenge. Any word relating to safety or data or safety and data is not a great choice.

Millions of passwords are hacked every day. If you don't want yours to be among them, take note of the tips mentioned. Select a unique sequence of letters, words, or characters, something no one else will guess, and keep your data safe. 

Reference: Pcworld.com

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