Cyber expert shares password format you should ‘always avoid’

Technology and security might be progressing at an incredible rate, but so are the skills of hackers keen to obtain your personal information.

That’s prompted cybersecurity expert, Ben Jones, to share crucial advice regarding your passwords. In a TikTok video, he revealed how to maximise the security of your accounts after sharing a worrying statistic surrounding a popular password format amongst tech users.

“Your ‘secure’ password could be cracked in SECONDS!” Ben warned.”Most people don’t realise how vulnerable they are until it’s too late.”

Alarmingly, Ben pointed out that if your password is less than eight characters in length and containers only numbers then you are “screwed”. He continued: “This means that it could be hacked instantly, whereas if you’ve got other characters including symbols and letters it takes years and years for a hacker to do a brute-force attack.”

Ben’s top tip, meanwhile, is to create a pass-phrase rather than a password. “This is three random words that are put together to create a phrase, for example ‘dogflyingwindow25!’ – that’s going to help keep your data safe,” he advised.

The expert continued, stating that he always recommends multi-factor authentication. “Maybe don’t do this through your phone,” he noted. “If you can, do it through an authenticator app like Microsoft Authenticator – and if you’re storing passwords, don’t do that on Google, do it on something like 1Password,” Ben suggested.

Ben went on to share five simple things you can do to help prevent your information from being stolen, meanwhile. “You shouldn’t click on links in your emails,” he advised. “Instead, type it in your browser as clicking it could take you to a dodgy website.”

Next, Ben referred to multi-factor authentication once more, revealing some of his friends had recently been hacked on Instagram. “If someone guesses your password, they can then enable multi-factor authentication themselves, preventing you from ever getting back in,” he cautioned.

Third on Ben’s list is the matter of public Wi-Fi. “If you’re using this, always use a VPN alongside it to encrypt the information that you are searching,” he advised. “It’s a really simple tip, but something like ExpressVPN can really help you.”

Coming back to passwords, Ben said it’s crucial to ensure yours is at least 12 characters long including letters, numbers and symbols, whilst his final security measure relates to the sharing of personal information.

“Just make sure you’re not sharing your address or anything like that, because again, that is what hackers can use to gain your information.”