7 Mistakes You’re Making When Coming Up With a New Password for Your Financial Accounts

When was the last time that you had to go to a bank physically? More likely than not, you’re just using your m-banking app or logging into your banking account via a browser on your laptop. 

This is incredibly convenient but means you must be twice as serious with cybersecurity. With a PIN, you just have to ensure that no one is looking over your shoulder as you’re typing, but with a password, there are many things to watch out for.

With that in mind and without further ado, here are the top eight mistakes you’re probably making when creating a new password for your financial accounts. 

1.Picking something meaningful

The first major mistake you can make is picking something meaningful as a password. Why is this a bad idea? Mainly because it’s easy to crack.

Imagine having a pet teacup pig named Snowball. Now, imagine using “Snowball” or “Snowball1” as a password for your banking account. All that one would have to do is make a fake Facebook profile and send you a request. If you accept, as many people do by default, they can go through your photos, see your photo with the pet and read their name from the caption. Congratulations, you’ve just given them access to your accounts.

Other bad ideas to use as your passwords are birthdays and anniversaries. They must review your profile, look for photos of these celebratory parties/dinners, and check the date when they’re uploaded. It won’t take long, even if they don’t get it on the first try. 

Later on, we’ll delve deeper into these variations and how they can be cracked, but for now, just avoid picking meaningful dates or terms as your passwords. 

2.Using the same password as on the previous platform

A lot of people hate the idea of using the same password multiple times. This is why they’re likely to recycle old passwords over and over again. This is problematic for several reasons.

First, not all sites have as strong cybersecurity, and if your password on one platform gets leaked, everything will be leaked.

What about sharing your password with someone? What if someone from work has to access your account to retrieve some data while you’re away? What if your work platform is the same as your Facebook/Instagram account password? What about if it’s a password for your banking account? How comfortable would you feel sharing it?

Before continuing with this, you need to understand that even a minimal difference in category won’t make much difference. You see:

• Password1

• Password9

• Password123

These are not different passwords. They’re just variations of the same password and won’t slow down a hacker. This is important, not just for your financial accounts but for your accounts on platforms for online jobs and social media platforms. 

3.Using a keyboard sequence

People are often lazy and underestimate the importance of passwords. For them, this is like choosing a name for their save game file in a video game. Let’s face it, when it comes to a savegame file, you’ve probably often used the “asd,” or even “sasdsas.” While this seems random, it’s anything but. In fact, these keyboard sequences are popular password sequences. 

Other keyboard sequences that people often use are:

• Qwer

• Qwert

• 12345

Still, any other area of the keyboard is risky, as well. Sure, they’re more likely to try “qwert” first, but it’s not like they’ll never come up with the idea of trying “yuio,” or “hjkl.” Just because something is not semantically logical, this doesn’t mean that it’s not commonly used or pragmatic. 

Remember that most hackers use software to try out these sequences, so your “random” sequence will be figured out quicker than you think. 

4.Picking the first password manager that you hear of

The simplest way to get stronger passwords is to use a password manager tool. This way, you’ll have an easier time creating strong passwords and minimize the chance of forgetting anything relevant. Moreover, this is convenient and will simplify your life without sacrificing your cybersecurity (even improving it). Also, all good password managers are great with backups and synchronization, an extra layer of security you always need.

When picking a password, one of the worst things you can do is get the first option you encounter. Sure, any password manager is better than no password manager, but it’s naive to assume they’re all the same. Instead, read some reviews and go through the lists to discover the best-rated password tools. Then, choose the one that you like best. You should never avoid picking based on personal preference.

5.Only abiding by the site policy 

Sometimes a site will have specific requirements. For instance, they won’t let you register if your password doesn’t have the following:

• The length of at least 8-12 characters

• At least one capital and one lowercase letter

• Number

• Symbol

While all these policies are great, the problem is that you might take the easy route if the site doesn’t insist on these requirements. Even with it, you may take the easy route and set a “P@ssword1” as your password.

However, as soon as you encounter a site that doesn’t insist on this level of cybersecurity, you’ll be back to picking “password” or “password1” as your default.

The bottom line is that you don’t have to wait for a site to insist you make a strong password to do so. If anything, you need to care more about your security than they do. If they don’t insist on it, you have to double down. After all, if they’re not taking it seriously, this is an additional reason for you to do so.

6.Picking something easy to crack

Not all passwords are equal, and some are easier to crack than others. For instance, simple numeric sequences are always easy to guess. Sure, they may not know how far you’re going, but they will eventually get there.

Cracking “123456789” doesn’t take that much effort than cracking “12345.” With software, this is merely a second of difference. Even manually, you have less than a minute to figure it out.

Then, some people try to be witty and use phrases like “welcome.” or “letmein,” as a password. Sure, it may be an original thought, but it’s not a very “original” thought. It won’t take much for people to figure it out.

Then, there are popular culture sequences like “iamironman” or “starwars” that you should also avoid. 

Make some effort to create something unique and do everyone a favor. 

7.Expecting to keep the password indefinitely

Passwords are not forever. Ideally, you would change your passwords every 60 to 90 days. However, not a lot of people do so. 

The thing is that if a hacker breaks your password, you will limit the amount of time that they’ll have access to your accounts. It’s a misconception that a hacker will just enter your site and strip you of all your belongings just minutes after penetrating your accounts. 

Their intentions may be far more sinister. For instance, they may use your identity to commit fraud or wait for your funds to get substantial enough for a major withdrawal. After all, why reveal themselves to steal $30 that you currently have on your PayPal account? To prevent this, you should just change your password from time to time.

Making better passwords can keep your finances safe

In the end, this is not just about your finances. In 2023, developing a habit of making better passwords, using password management tools, and changing them from time to time, can be life-saving. Needless to say, this is a skill you want to develop as soon as possible.