Changing Your Passwords: Why It's Important and Helpful Tips

When was the last time you changed your passwords? A year ago? Five years ago? Does it matter? Honestly - yes, but there is such a thing as changing them too often. Passwords should be changed if they are all the same, if they are too easy to guess, or if they are forgotten or compromised. However, changing your passwords too often isn’t a great idea either because they can easily be forgotten. Even the Federal Trade Commision admits that people don’t need to change their passwords as often as they think.

Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern MA, ME, RI, & VT (BBB) is here to tell consumers what makes a good password and why using multiple passwords is important.

Think of your passwords as walls.

Think of passwords like a wall between free access to your personal information and the world. If you put up a strong wall, it will be difficult for others to break down. If you put up multiple strong walls for different information, they will be even harder to break down. But if you only put up one weak wall, anyone can break it down.

Don’t make your passwords easy to guess.

An example of a weak password is one that is easy to guess - information that anyone can find. Commonly used passwords are your pet’s name, your mother’s maiden name, the town you grew up in, your birthday, your anniversary, etc. Surprisingly, the answers to these common passwords can typically be found online. Even if you don’t consider yourself an active user of social media or the Internet, your information is out there on one forum or another. Even for passwords that require numbers along with letters, people tend to stick to simple patterns like 0000, 1111, 1234, etc.

Use multiple passwords.

Using different passwords for different accounts is also important. While it may be easier to remember one password for every account, it’s much easier for hackers to break down one wall rather than multiple walls. If hackers can figure out one password, even if it’s to something harmless like your Instagram account, they then know the password to every single account you own. This includes websites you shop online at, banking accounts, health insurance accounts, email accounts - you name it.

Instead of using the same password for everything, use different passwords for each account and make a list you can easily refer to at any time. A written list would be best, but if you’re worried of losing it, write a list on your phone and label it as something other than ‘PASSWORDS’. Keep the list updated and organized as well as secretive.

Make it creative.

Running low on creative ideas for different passwords? Try using song lyrics. Not only is it basically impossible for hackers to guess what song you are using, it’s even harder for them to guess which lyrics you’re using on top of that.

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