10 Sure Signs That You Have Been Hacked

Password habits are a topic that people tend to not think about too often. And yet, it’s the thing that drastically, even if deceptively, affects their everyday lives. Good password habits allow you to effortlessly keep your sensitive information safe and sound. Bad password habits inevitably lead to your personal data getting compromised, stolen, and taken advantage of.

With that in mind, one would expect any security-conscious person to be aware of their habits. And yet, numerous researches have revealed that a lot of us either aren’t aware of our bad password habits or don’t consider them that big of a deal. In this piece, we will:

– Take a look at the password habits data
– Explore bad password habits and why they’re dangerous
– Talk about good password habits and how to develop them
– Look into password safety tools and how to use them

Research on Password Habits and Security

So, are you still jeopardizing your passwords with bad habits? Let’s see what the data has to say. In general, there are some good news and some bad news.

The good news: more and more people seem to acknowledge the importance of good password habits and security tools.

• 85% of respondents employ two-factor authentication (2FA), which is a great way to add some extra security to your passwords and accounts.
• Secure storage has increased significantly - almost a third of the respondents now use password management tools or built-in browser vaults.
• Less than 50% feel confident about the security of their accounts.

The bad news: a vast majority of people still neglect even the basic security hygiene rules.

• Over two-thirds of respondents use the same passwords across multiple accounts, putting all these accounts in danger if even a single one of them gets hacked.
• More than a third keep sharing their codes and other sensitive information over unsecured channels with others, and their numbers keep growing.
• Over the previous year, the use of password generators nearly doubled.

Password Creation Habits Nowadays, hackers have plenty of tools at their disposal to compromise weak passwords. They can quickly get through whole dictionaries, analyze your publicly available personal data, and use other shady techniques to crack your passwords. This makes it crucial to generate strong AND unique passwords if you want to keep your information intact. Despite that, many respondents violate the most important rule of password hygiene - they reuse the same passwords for more than one account. This is a serious problem. If even a single password and account gets hacked, all the other profiles that share the same password will be in danger as well. Luckily, it seems that the general user at least realizes that their passwords should be strong. A majority of people (84%) report using passcodes that are at least 8 characters long. Even more importantly, people use combinations of different numbers, letter cases, special characters, etc. The only caveat is that many still recycle old passwords with only minor differences. This is a mistake - recycled codes are easy to hack even if they are slightly tweaked. Another important password habit is what components are used. Research revealed several predictable patterns and popular password components that make it significantly easier to hack a code. The easiest way to avoid this is by using random password generators, such as the one available in Passwarden.

Bad Password Habits and How to Turn Them into Good Password Habits

Most people share the same several bad password habits. We list them below - check if you recognize any of these in yourself! We will also contrast each bad habit to its positive counterpart and explain how to develop good password habits

.

1. Reusing the same password over and over

 

More than half of netizens are using the same password or two for all of their accounts and logins, researchers claim. This is easily the biggest mistake one can do to their online security. Massive breaches affect an increasing number of websites and services, so nobody can be certain that their online accounts and passwords don’t get leaked online.

 

Even worse, at least one of your passwords is likely already out there, what with billions of credentials that have already been leaked. Considering all that, reusing the same passwords on several websites significantly jeopardizes your sensitive information. If any one of these websites leaks your data, all your passwords and accounts across all websites will be in danger.

 

The good password habit here is quite self-explanatory - you should always strive to use unique passwords on each of your websites, accounts, and profiles. Now, you may be thinking that this is an unrealistic expectation. We’re using dozens of websites in our daily lives - how is anybody expected to remember so many passwords? Glad you asked! This is where we smoothly transition to the second bad habit...

 

2. Not using password managers

 

Do you often find yourself losing your passwords and clicking the “forgot password” button? This is especially common for important sites you only use occasionally, such as websites for paying taxes. Without a password management system, it’s difficult to remember which passwords you have on which accounts, where you have those passwords and accounts, how many, etc.

 

So, turning this mistake into a good password habit, that’s why people use password manager apps, such as Passwarden. This app allows you to:

 

• Generate strong, reliable passwords
• Store them, along with other sensitive information, inside secure encrypted vaults
• Securely share your data with those you trust
• Monitor the Dark Web for data breaches and other events that may compromise your security
• Keep your data safe even under duress with the Duress mode
• And more! You can try Passwarden for free or get it as a part of the MonoDefense software bundle.

3. Keeping old passwords for years

Okay, so let’s say people do use different passwords for different accounts. But when was the last time they updated them? I.e., changed passwords on their email services, financial and online banking accounts, Facebook profiles, etc. Unless you do it regularly, having a strong passcode alone isn’t going to save you in the long run.

For a good password habit, you should change your passwords regularly (at least once a season). This is especially true if you’re using the same one on more than one account. By the way, another benefit of password managers (see above bad habit) is that some of them, Passwarden included, will remind you to change your passwords. Quite convenient!

4. Overusing the “remember me” option

When you log in to your account, most websites offer you to remember your credentials for later, or even to simply keep you logged in. While it certainly is a convenient option, especially for the websites that you use often, it’s also pretty dangerous.

First of all, if you use the “remember me” option, most likely you will soon forget the password and username. But more importantly, anyone with access to your device can easily retrieve that information and get into your accounts.

First of all, if you use the “remember me” option, most likely you will soon forget the password and username. But more importantly, anyone with access to your device can easily retrieve that information and get into your accounts.

Do we have any good password habit advice here besides “don’t overuse this option”? As a matter of fact, we do! Once again, we have to turn to password managers for help. A good manager, such as Passwarden, will have a password autofill feature, where it will automatically insert any stored information in the relevant login fields. This is a fast, convenient, and secure option, as it does not include websites remembering any of your personal data.

5. Keeping passwords in your browser

 

This bad password habit is somewhat similar to the previous one. Having your browser store your data is convenient, but it puts your online accounts and passwords in danger. Since you won’t be prompted to log in by default, your stored passwords and accounts will be exposed. Besides, you risk being left without your passwords whenever you find yourself on another device without automatic sync available.The good password habit here is similar to the previous one. That is, use a password manager’s autofill feature instead of having your browser save your data.

First of all, if you use the “remember me” option, most likely you will soon forget the password and username. But more importantly, anyone with access to your device can easily retrieve that information and get into your accounts.

6. Sharing passwords in the open

Let’s say you wanted to share your home WiFi login with your guests, your tax accounts with your spouse, or corporate credentials with your business partner. How would you do it? If your answer is “via a messenger” or somesuch - congrats, you’ve just compromised your security!

As for good password habits, it goes without saying that any passwords should be shared sparingly. But the medium through which you share them is also crucial. The safest way is to share them via password managers. This way your data will not leave the encrypted environment and will stay out of hackers’ hands. Also, only share your data with people and services you trust, and once they no longer need the password, update it immediately.

7. Sharing passwords via email

This bad password habit is an isolated occasion of the previous one. However, we decided to discuss it individually because it’s one of the most dangerous ways you can share your passwords in the open. You see, your email account is already a critical chain in your security. Anyone hacking your account will get access to a lot of your sensitive information. Let alone if you make the hackers’ job even easier by sharing your logins via email.

Additionally, emails are simply not secure enough for you to entrust your most sensitive information to them. By the way, if a website ever sends you your login and password in plain text via email, you should immediately let them know it’s unacceptable and delete that letter. This would also show that such a website doesn’t care about your safety in the slightest and could be jeopardizing your passwords and personal information in other ways.

The good password habit is the same in this case, but it bears repeating. Only share your passcodes and other sensitive information using secure dedicated channels, preferably - password managers.

Of Password Managers and Passwarden

By this point, you’ve probably noticed that every good password habit relies on password managers in some way. It makes perfect sense since these apps were specifically designed to solve the most common password-related problems. That’s exactly the reason why we created Passwarden, our widely-acclaimed password manager.