WORLD Password Day 'back' to remind us that, as always, there is a lot to do to increase the security level of our accounts and devices. Also in 2017, for example, won the " 123456 " incorrigible or with the amazing "12345678" variant). The two-step procedures have improved the situation but often involve delays and, except in some delicate cases (banking profiles), users struggle to marry them. And rely on dates of birth or others found as "password", qwerty "or" passw0rd ".
Cyberattacks and identity theft are becoming more sophisticated, often feeding real periodic waves, and clamorous thefts - like the one at the turn of 2017 and 2018 - compromise millions of passwords, email addresses, username and other extremes. Not to mention the weak points of the so-called "wetware", the wet side of our relationship with technology, that is ourselves, which tend to laziness or ignorance to rely on passwords that are always the same or slightly different, as well as not very imaginative, for many services.
For this Avast has released a guide containing a series of basic suggestions, always useful to follow and that even after many years must continue to repeat. The first, to relate to what was said, is related to the variety: you have to give each account (whether it is access to the smartphone or Facebook) a single password. In this case, recycling is not welcome. Each string should also be sufficiently complex and "strong", ie difficult to compose automatically with numbers, capital letters, if possible special characters and non-linear combinations.
Also important is the use of a password manager, such as the excellent (but paid) Dashlane or the same Avast Password Manager, to manage this mess: you will remember for you more complicated passwords and often, if they are free, offer other services in premium versions. Fourthly, you need to get started on time when you hear about breaches, holes and password theft to change the simplest or most vulnerable ones. Without waiting.
Furthermore, the invitation is to use two-factor authentication procedures, for example with tokens or codes via SMS, when possible, exploit a Vpn (Virtual private network) especially on public Wi-Fiand open and then adopt intelligent attitudes such as not writing or chatting passwords, selecting options and recovery questions difficult to guess and to which only the user can respond. An excellent advice is also to become "evangelizers", that is to raise awareness among friends and family about the risks of cybersecurity. A good antivirus is finally a great classic that many still ignore
