Important facts to teach young adults with IDD about managing cyber security and keeping their password information safe.
A password is like a key – it allows only one specific person to access personal information.
Most of us have many different passwords to remember. We have to log into our email, online shopping websites, streaming services, and even our bank accounts! Since passwords are an important part of our daily lives, in this post we’ll review some important facts to keep your information safe.
What can go wrong if someone guesses your password?
First, let’s review the term “strong password.” If a password is strong, it means that other people will have a harder time guessing your password and so your information will be much safer.
If someone does guess your password, (commonly called “hacking”) they will have access to a your personal information. This means they could spend all of your money, log into your email and social media accounts, and pretend to be you in order to do bad things.
In order to avoid getting your information hacked, review the following Do’s and Don’ts for password management:
Don’t have one password for everything.
Sure, it would be easy to only remember one password, but if an online thief guesses that one password, they will then have access to every single thing! Having different passwords for every website is a much safer way to protect your information.
Do make your password hard to guess
Can you believe one of the most common passwords is actually the word “Password?” Using simple, common phrases such as “1234”, “Password”, or even your name and date of birth are really easy for people to guess!
Most websites will have passwords requirements, meaning that your password will need certain details such as:
- Uppercase letters
- ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
- Lowercase letters
- abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
- Special Symbols
- (!@#$%^&*)
- Numbers
- 1234567890
Make sure to pay attention to the password requirements for each different website. Most won’t let you continue until you have all of the required parts.
Don’t make your password too short
In addition to having certain password parts, a website might also have a “character requirement” – this means a password must be a certain length.
For example:
dog2 = 4 characters long
College25! = 10 characters long
The second example password is much stronger than the first, because it has more characters, an upper case letter, more numbers, and a special symbol. It is a harder password for other people to guess.
Do change your password often
The longer you keep a certain password, the more chances it gives someone else to guess it! Some websites will force you to change your password every few months, and they might not allow you to reuse a previous password either.
While this may seem frustrating sometimes to come up with another new password all the time, it really is a good habit to keep your information safe.
Don’t share your password with others
Your password should belong to you, and only you. A general rule is not to share your password with anyone.
Even if a trusted adult asks for your password, make sure you understand what they will have access to if they use it and make sure you are comfortable sharing that information.
It is not appropriate to have someone send emails pretending to be you, or completing school assignments that are meant for you. It is an important responsibility to manage your online accounts.
Do keep your information in a safe place.
Most of us have trouble remembering every single password we make, especially if we make them strong passwords that have a lot of parts to remember.
Some people like to keep their passwords all together on their phone, such as a locked note or a specific password tracking app.
Here at Accessible Adulthood, we also created a Password Tracking Packet to assist in keeping this information in one place. If you decide to write down your password information, be sure keep this document in a safe place as well.
Need a place to keep track of passwords for WiFi, Email, Websites, Streaming Services, and more? Check out our Password Tracker Packet to keep important information in one place.
Having strong passwords and keeping track of them is an important responsibility. Find an organization system that works well for you so you always feel confident in logging into websites independently while keeping your information safe.
