Online Privacy and Your Digital Footprint
Password Managers
A password manager is a tool that you can use to generate and store passwords for many different accounts. This may seem counterintuitive -- isn't it vulnerable to put all your passwords in one place? However, a password manager encrypts your data, so that any breach will leave your data meaningless without the key. You can use your new passphrase to unlock your password manager -- that way you only have to remember one password.
There are many different password managers available -- browse the following and do your own research before committing. There are free and paid options.
Tip: if it feels overwhelming, don't feel like you have to add all your accounts to a password manager all at once. You can add passwords as you use them throughout your week.
Bad Password Choices
Getting started
Using unique, private passwords helps keep your accounts safe. This page will walk you through:
- Checking if your email or passwords have been compromised
- Using dice to create a random and strong passphrase
- Considering a password manager to generate and store unique, strong passwords for multiple accounts.
Has my email been compromised??
Data breaches occur through hacking, as well as human and technical errors. This is part of why it is good to use unique passwords for each account, and to change passwords periodically.
You can use the tools below to check if your email is included in any known data breaches. Many password managers also have tools to check if your accounts or passwords have been compromised.
Passphrases
One way to strengthen your security is to use a passphrase, which uses randomly generated words -- the more words, the more difficult to crack.
You can use dice to randomly generate numbers, and use those to look up with a list like this one, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation
For example, if you roll five dice to get 32345, you would check the list below:
32335 glisten 32336 glitch 32341 glitter 32342 glitzy 32343 gloater 32344 gloating 32345 gloomily 32346 gloomy 32351 glorified 32352 glorifier 32353 glorify
Gloomily would be one of the words in your password.
A four or five word passphrase may feel intimidating to remember, but you can make a little story to help yourself:
gloomily compile unviable spud foam
Gloomily, I compile the unviable spud in its foam.
You might make a mental image to help solidify the story for yourself.
-
Electronic Frontier Foundation Diceware PassphrasesFind the random word list and other information about using diceware.
-
Virginia Tech diceware generatorThis site automatically generates the random numbers and words based on the EFF list.