How to keep your online accounts protected from being hacked

There’s a few different ways your account can get logged into without your authorisation. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to prevent this from happening.

1. Use a password manager

This is by far the easiest step you can take to protecting all of your information and accounts online. Password managers have existed for decades now but it has never been easier to set one up across all your devices. They come with different features but most ones nowadays will have the following key features:

They store all your passwords (no shit) so you don’t have to worry about remembering them

Well doesn’t my browser already do that? The key reason why you should never store passwords in your browser is that your browser itself doesn’t have any form of security against anyone inputting your stored passwords. Password managers (with the right settings set up) will require a master password before anyone is allowed to access your passwords, adding an extra layer of security to your accounts.

It’s also actually safer in many cases to have a computer program input your password for you rather than you typing it in. If your device happens to have any sort of nasty malware on it, a common tool that hackers use to gain access to your accounts is a keylogger, which tracks all the inputs you make with your keyboard. So once you’ve typed in your password, the program now has your account details and someone could feasibly retrieve that information and use it maliciously.

Another key benefit of not having to remember your passwords is that you can now have a different password for every account you have, which leads me to the next feature…

They can automatically generate passwords for your accounts

Of course, this was always possible without the use of a password manager, but coupled with the ability to instantly store these passwords into a handy application or browser extension, there’s never been less of a reason to not do this. This prevents hackers from gaining access to all your accounts once they’ve cracked a single password. It makes creating new passwords so much easier (you should change your passwords frequently). It also becomes much harder to crack your passwords as well, as many hackers utilize dictionary attacks to crack passwords with words in them. So yeah, that “VictorIsDaBest69” password from 2007 isn’t quite going to do much to prevent knowledgeable people from getting into your accounts. This is a fun website to use to test how long it’d take someone to crack your password. https://www.betterbuys.com/estimating-password-cracking-times/

I don’t advise typing in your actual password for obvious reasons but it’s a good demonstration of how much stronger randomly generated passwords are to the ones our tiny brains come up with normally.

Cross-device support

Most full-featured password managers nowadays also feature cross-device support, meaning you can access your passwords from your desktop, laptop and mobile phone simultaneously. Which is obviously pretty neat and handy.

To conclude this portion, password managers are IMO an essential cybersecurity tool that every average Kevin Nguyen and Karen Jones should be using nowadays, especially for those who aren’t the most technologically literate. There’s several good options out there nowadays so do your research to figure out which solution works best for you.

2. Two-factor authorisation

At this point, we’re probably pretty familiar with 2FA especially since many services are now making it mandatory, and for good reason. 2FA means that even if hackers somehow manage to crack your password, they’ve still got the hard task of somehow managing to steal your phone from halfway around the world and putting in that pesky code to gain access to your account. The key takeaway here is to use 2FA on any account you have that supports the feature. And while we’re at it, let me just get this out of my system…

Don’t EVER think about sharing your goddamn 2FA code

There is absolutely 0 reason anyone would ever need this code and if they ask you for it, the chances are that whoever is asking for it is attempting to gain access to your account, or more commonly these days, the person who’s asking for your code isn’t actually who you think it is and they’ve likely just fallen for a similar ruse.

Treat your 2FA code like your password.

3. General cybersecurity practice

Don’t install programs from dodgy websites. Avoid websites that don’t use HTTPS (websites using HTTPS will have a green lock indicator on the url bar) as they’re less secure. Use an antivirus. Don’t talk to strangers (cmon now), and ESPECIALLY don’t click links from strangers OR friends. If your friend sends you a link, google the URL first to make sure it’s legit. Avoid emails containing links from addresses you don’t know. Triple check the address of every email you receive if it has a link in it. Don’t store nudes on your phone (unless you have a kink for Nigerian prince exhibitionism, I ain’t judging). Don’t keep any sensitive information written down anywhere on your device (think passwords, bank details, etc.). Don’t post information online that people could use maliciously (avoid addresses, phone numbers, bank details unless to very trusted people). Make sure your browser extensions aren’t doing dodgy things. Delete programs you don’t use often. And lastly, there definitely aren’t any horny single MILFS in your area so don’t get your hopes up.

Happy browsing :)