Too many people are being scammed every day, so what can you do to make yourself safer in the new year? Change your online passwords!
From banking to ordering food, you do it all online and each account requires a password.
So many passwords can be so hard to remember.
Some people tell me they make them easy and use them repeatedly.
Data Doctors expert Ken Colburn says don't do that.
"Right now, if you're using the same password on all of your accounts, you are a sitting duck," he says.
Security.orgshows how you can increase security easily.
Take the password 1357legend.
The website shows it can be hacked by a computer in one day.
If you just capitalize one letter and add a symbol (for example, 1357Legend!), Security.org says it would take 400 years to hack.
Colburn says the best passwords are longer: "8 characters is not enough. It needs to be 12 and 16 characters and remembering all of that on all your accounts just isn't feasible," he says.
Instead, he suggests a password manager.
Google has one and it's free.
With each account you have online, it automatically "generates a unique complex password that's encrypted and then saved in your Google account."
Use Google Chrome, sign into your account and when you go to sites or accounts, saved, safe passwords automatically fill in — and it works on all your devices.
Lastpass, Roboform, and Dashlane all offer free password managers on one device. You have to pay a fee if you want to use these on multiple devices.
This way, you only have to remember one password.
If you decide to continue without a password manager, Colburn says at least do one simple thing.
"If you're still using an eight-character password, simply double it," Colburn says.
According to Security.org, while our example of 1357legend could be hacked in a day, doubling it would take a computer 10 trillion years to crack.
The most common password last year? It was the word "password," followed by 123456.
Security.org shows they could be hacked "instantly."
