Sadly, the combination of your birth year and your cat’s name is one of the easiest password combinations to crack.

Although you might think that you’ve created a hack-proof password, odds are high that you must have committed some of the most common mistakes most people make while creating their password online.

The fact is, it is easy quite normal to fall into any of these traps. The human brain is filled with an enormous amount of info and creating a unique and hack-proof password for each of our social media account may seem like a challenging task

Nonetheless, it is our duty to inform you that streamlining all your passwords so as to make them easier on yourself might make you further susceptible to a number of security breaches.

1. Using a single password for all sites

One of the most common mistakes most people make while creating passwords for different sites is that they end up applying the same passwords to multiple accounts. No doubt, efficiency does make our lives easier, however having a single password for all the accounts can add an additional headache in case of a security breach.

For example, in case one of your online accounts gets compromised for some reason, and you have a habit of using the same password for each of your accounts on the internet, you run a big risk of getting hacked on the remaining sites, as well. To sum up, create a unique password for each site you use online.

2. Using brand names to create a password

You can easily memorize a password with a brand name, right? However, do you realize that if it’s a popular brand, cybercriminals will be able to easily detect it as well just like you?

Using a password using brand names like Cadbury or CocaCola is not a wise idea no matter what. ILoveCadbury is likewise not a reliable password.

3. Lazy combinations

That’s when a person simply picks a combination of numbers and letters that are placed next to one another on their keyboard. This is when folks don’t even bother to come up with a phrase or word so they simply drag their hand across their keyboard hoping the combination sticks long enough. How lazy can we get?

As a matter of fact, most hackers understand how lazy people are, and will be more than happy to guess such a combination of passwords within a few seconds.

Tips for making a hack-proof password:

The length of your password should be no less than 12 characters long. Typically, the longer the password is, the harder it is for cybercriminals to crack.

Next, you want to use a random combination of letters, numbers, and special characters to make it difficult for cybercriminals to hack.

Adding capital letters at random positions is also a great way to secure your password online. Make sure to update your passwords on a regular basis typically every 6 months at a minimum.