You need an account for just about everything these days. You need to create accounts for services such as Gmail , Netflix, and Amazon, as well as for online forums or sites like Reddit and YouTube. And even if an account isn't strictly required, you might be locked out of certain features or content until you make one.
With so many accounts to keep track of, you will have to memorize just as many passwords. Or do you? The answer is (mostly) yes. Password security is something you shouldn't take lightly or cut corners on.
For instance, you have to avoid passwords that are constantly hacked – the stronger and less obvious a password, the better. Let's say you come up with the perfect password for one account. But what about the 87 other accounts? You might be tempted to reuse the password for most or even all of them.
After all, this magnum opus of a code is impregnable, right? In truth, it's not impregnable yet . Reusing the same password across multiple accounts, no matter how strong, is actually a horrible internet safety strategy. We'll go through all the ways this can backfire and potentially compromise others in your network or beyond.
When hackers get your password for one account, they only know it belongs to that account. If you reuse passwords across sites and services, hackers don't necessarily know the passwords for those accounts or that you're associated with them. But that won't stop them from using those credentials on all these sites.
One common trick hacker.
