- Never use the same password for any of your sites.
- Generate different secure passwords for your sites of at least 16 characters long, which include letters, numbers and symbols. There are many secure password generators out there.
- Use a Password Manager (free or premium). A password manager takes away the stress of having to remember all the passwords you have generated (except the master password for the password manager of course). My favourite is Bitwarden since it can be used on both your computer (as a browser extension) and your mobile phone (as an app) in the free version.
- Since you only have to remember your master password for the password manager, I recommend creating one using Binomial Nomenclature, then type it and cram it until you grasp it. Pick a name and change out the different characters with numbers, letters and symbols so it becomes hard to crack. I recommend using the names with two parts or three parts and combining them into one. For example, the formal name for a giraffe is Giraffa camelopardalis which you might style as G1r@fFAc@m£L0paRd@1i$. That password would take 3 sextillion years to brute force!
- Use two-factor authentication (2FA) on websites that support it to make your logins more secure. I recommend Authy for generating 2FA verification codes, especially since it can backup and restore your codes. (You can use a 2FA plugin on a self-hosted WordPress Site(s)). WhatsApp also supports 2FA and you should ensure you set it up!
- If you’re using 2FA, ensure you also set a backup method for each site to log in just in case you are unable to access authentication codes (e.g. if you lose your phone). Some sites allow you to use your phone number while others generate one-time login codes. You can save the one-time login codes in Bitwarden for each site as Secure Notes.
- Ensure you have an antivirus on your computer and ensure it is working.
- Avoid visiting sketchy sites or opening sketchy media or emails.
I blog at AfroCave.
