Today, it’s not uncommon that someone loses their important and personal information in a significant data breach. Passwords protect all of our essential online accounts, from social networks and email inboxes to our bank accounts.

This makes having a stronger password more crucial than ever before. It could make the difference between ending up in hackers' hands or keeping your identity safe. Stronger and long passwords are very difficult to crack.

It's unfortunate that many of us choose our passwords poorly. In general, we select those that we can easily remember and we tend to use them repeatedly. Read on to learn how you can secure your passwords better.

The Majority Of People Use Weak Passwords

The Search Engine Provider Google found that almost a quarter (24 percent) of Americans use weak passwords. Passwords like “abc123,” “Iloveyou,” “111111,” “qwerty,” and “welcome” are very common.

Moreover, Google's findings reveal that 17 percent of those who guess someone's password correctly have done so out of the 27 percent that guess. If you want to read more about how many people use weak passwords and other stats, you can check out ExpressVPN's infographic on common passwords to find out.

More than half (53%) of respondents admit using the same password for multiple accounts, 88 percent are aware that this is a risky practice. Five percent cited that they could only remember a limited number of passwords, and twenty percent thought their information was unimportant, while seven percent were too lazy to change their passwords.

Forget Words And Names

Many hacker attacks start with a dictionary. If you want to choose a secure password, do not use words, even foreign words. When playing the letter substitution game, do not put special characters in place of letters or numbers (especially the obvious ones). It's still too easy for hackers to guess a word or name.

The Longer, The Better

In general, most passwords consist of 7-8 characters or letters. Choosing a secure password requires more characters. At least 15 characters are needed for a secure password.

You can find ways to help you remember these, despite their difficulty. As you repeat them, you will become more adept at recognizing them. When one password is compromised, you do not have to change them all. If you still have problems remembering all of your passwords, consider using a password manager.

Why A Strong Password Is Important

Most online accounts can be hacked when they don't have a strong password. Using passwords that are out of date might leave you vulnerable to cyber-frauds within hours. You should never put yourself at risk for identity theft or extortion. Passwords should be strong and resistant to modern methods of password theft.

A cybercriminal can take advantage of weak account credentials. In order to prevent being a victim of password-hacking, you will need to take steps to prevent their success.

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