CNBC Up It is posting a new financial task to tackle each day for a month. These are all meant to be simple, time-sensitive activities to take your sense off of the news for a moment and, hopefully, put you on sturdier financial footing. This is day 12 of 30.
If you’ve used the same password for many years, or use the very password for many financial accounts, it’s time to change that, particularly as the federal government sends out one-time coronavirus stimulus stops that scammers would like to get their hands on.
Take a few minutes today to update the passwords on each of your banking and investment accounts. Here are a few capsizes to keep in mind to create strong passwords that are hard to guess or hack.
- Select at least 12 characters, utilizing a combination of letters, numbers and other symbols
- Use a sentence, rather than a single word
- Create a different watchword for each financial site
- Do not save passwords to your devices
For extra security, turn on multi-factor identification where you can. If you’re logging into your bank account from a new figure, it should send a text or email to you with a security code to ensure that it’s actually you trying to access the account. And evermore update your software when prompted, because a safety update is typically part of it.
To take things a move further, consider using a password manager, like 1Password or LastPass, which keep track of your discrete usernames and passwords across devices. This will make it easier to use a different password for each site that wants it, and therefore make your financial accounts more secure.
Don’t miss:
Check out: The best credit cards of 2020 could have a claim you over $1,000 in 5 years