Password Habits and Identity Theft

For many products and services we buy or use on the web, registration is required, and we create a user name and password for each account. This is done for security purposes, so others can't purchase goods and services with your account or access your email. How secure are your passwords? Is it a word that could easily be guessed or associated with you? We tend create passwords that will be easy for to remember, which makes perfect sense, but it shouldn't be easy for someone else to guess or figure out. For instance, don't use your login name as your password, or easy to guess number sequences like "12345." Also avoid using any part of your name or your birthday. The digits of your passwords should include both letters and numbers, and they should be changed regularly. If your password can be easily guessed, you are at greater risk of becoming an identity theft victim.

Another common password habit we often develop is using the same password for multiple purposes. Once again, it seems convenient since it would be a royal pain to have to remember dozens of different passwords for all of the purposes we need them for. But how does this help your online security? Once your password is cracked, an identity thief can log into any or all of your accounts. According to a report published by the International Telecommunications Union, more and more people continue to use the same passwords for different accounts, and in doing so, putting themselves at greater risk of identity theft.

Sure, varying our passwords might seem inconvenient, but it is definitely worth the extra effort. Also, it might be a good idea for companies to do their part to prevent identity theft by coming up with another way to verify a user's identification.