News of classified information on national security getting hacked makes one realize that it is not safe anymore. Hackers have created more malicious virus and malware that will not just hack your account but destroy all the data you've carefully stored. Worse, those hackers can get precious information and steal your identity. How do you make yourself hack-proof, then?
One of the reasons why a lot of accounts are easily hacked is that they are using passwords that are very common and easy. This was revealed by a leaked Yahoo database where three of the most commonly used passwords are still "123456," "qwerty," and "abc123." Other most commonly used passwords are "ninja" and "sunshine."
Dr. Jeff Yan, the co-author of a research paper on password guessing said that one reason why some people use such obvious passwords is that they are not aware of the perils of online security. The difficulty remembering a complicated password is another reason why people shun creating one.
However, a research made by scientists in Peking and Fujian Normal University in China could change how people view password creation. The scientists created algorithms that guess passwords based on someone's personal information. The result was surprising: the algorithm successfully guessed the password of 73 percent of ordinary users. Even the password of 1/3 of the savviest computer users were cracked in 100 guesses.
So how do you protect yourself from getting hacked? Google advises using a different password for each of your important accounts, such as your bank and email accounts. Using one uniform password for everything makes it easier for hackers to access all your information and your money.
It also helps if you use a mix of symbols, numbers, and letters in both upper and lower case because there are 30,000 possibilities before getting discovered. Avoiding using anything related to your personal information is strongly recommended as well.
