A. M. ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, shares the 6 main reasons why it is necessary to change passwords, highlighting the importance of this habit for digital security.
The reasons why you should change your passwords and thus keep your accounts and services more protected are as follows:
1. Simple password:
A simple password, of no more than 7 characters, can be breached by a cybercriminal in just two seconds. Yes, two seconds. It is worth remembering that passwords are the gateway to our digital life: social networks, bank accounts and other services where personal data or sensitive information is stored.
Therefore, if you still have a simple and short password (read “123456” or “password”), it is essential to change it for a much stronger and longer one, containing numbers, capital letters and special characters.
2. Reused password:
If you use the same password for different accounts or services, that is another great reason to change it for another one. As an example, it would be the same as using the same key to enter a house, start the car and also open the safe.
Therefore, it is very important to use a unique password for each account. If you have doubts about how to set it up, ESET shares tips on how to create a unique and secure password.
3. Password leaked in a data breach:
If your password was leaked in any data breach, that’s more than enough reason to update it quickly.
To find out if your password has been leaked, through Have I Been Pwned, you can check if and where your email address was ever leaked. This database is constantly updated with addresses and passwords that were recently leaked.
4. Password not updated for a long time:
Since our passwords protect information that is as important as it is sensitive, updating them periodically represents a very good habit to keep your digital life safe. On the other hand, the previous password should not be reused in the future or in another account or service.
5. Password composed of personal data:
For a cybercriminal, it is very easy today to find personal information or likes and dislikes of users through everything they share on their social networks. From places of interest, pet names, children’s names, important dates, sports teams, books, music, among many others.
“To understand the criticality of this point, it is vital to keep in mind that cybercriminals usually crack user passwords through brute force attacks, which consist of trying with large volumes of dictionary words, public data, commonly used passwords or data leaks (based on trial and error) until they find the correct credential. Therefore, if you still have this type of password, we also recommend updating it immediately”, says Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya, head of the ESET Latin America Research Lab.
6. Shared password:
Unfortunately, sharing a password to access, for example, a streaming service account is a widespread phenomenon, but also a dangerous one. Once the password is shared, control is lost and you do not know how the other person will manipulate the key and if they will share it with someone else.
In fact, if credentials are shared to a shopping platform, the person with access could log in and view saved payment methods and even use the information to make a transaction. Therefore, if the password was shared at some point, it is advisable to change it for another one.
