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Tips to keep passwords from getting hacked

4-ways-to-reduce-the-chances-of-your-password-getting-hacked
October 16, 2020 by Diane Metcalf, M.S.I.T. No Comments

In my day as a network administrator, I constantly harped about passwords. We were a close-knit group, a kind of family, and it was not uncommon for employees to share their passwords with their co-workers, or keep them on a sticky note under their keyboard, or even openly share a password in an email. It was common to use the same password for all work-related accounts, and use the same password for years, use the names of children, husbands, wives or dead pets as a password.

Since then, the bad guys have acquired new tools and insights for breaking in. Here’s how to reduce the chances of your password getting hacked.

4 Ways to Reduce the Chances of your Passwords Getting Hacked

One type of attack used back then that’s still around today, is the brute force attack. In a brute force attack, bots continuously guess common passwords in an attempt to log into an account. What used to take weeks or months back then, now takes hours or days. The harder the password, the less likely they will able to break into your personal accounts.

A dictionary attack is a way of guessing long passwords. It uses the same repetitive technique as a brute force attack but uses a list of common passwords and words from dictionaries and literature as the starting point for guessing.

And with the huge number of password breaches that occur every year, hundreds of millions of active passwords are out there on password lists floating around in cyberspace, just waiting to be tried. Is your password already on one of those lists? It could be.

So, what makes a good password anyway, in these days of bots, A. I., brute force attacks, breached password lists and personal information all for sale on the dark web?

What makes a secure password?

There are a few things to consider when creating your next password that will reduce the chances of your password getting hacked. You’ve heard these things before but they’ve changed just a bit and can make the difference between being safe and secure and being hacked:

1-LENGTH: the longer the password, the higher the probability of it not being guessed. Strong passwords are long. How long? At least 12 characters. 16 or more is even better. The more characters, the more secure.

2-COMPLEXITY: make your password complex, by adding numbers and unique characters. This will change an easy-to-guess password into a more secure password. By adding numbers, characters, and a few upper and lower case letters, it will be much harder for bots to guess.

3-UNIQUENESS: have a unique password for each account. Don’t reuse your passwords. If an account becomes compromised, make sure that it’s an isolated event. Accounts that all use the same password have the potential to all become breached once that password is known.

The biggest complaint I used to hear is that long, complex passwords are really hard to remember. That’s even more accurate today. With long, complicated passwords we can end up locking ourselves out of our own accounts, which causes frustration, password resets and lost time. I hear ya! Been there, done that.

So we’re at the point now with password-security being an absolute necessity rather than just being a good idea or a good practice. You might want to check out some of the password managers out there, to further reduce the chances of your password getting hacked.

4-PASSWORD MANAGERS: I don’t endorse any products here, but generally, password managers are all very similar – they keep your passwords in a “vault” for you. You can enable them to auto-generate strong passwords for you, and to auto-fill your password when you log into a website. They’re worth investigating and checking out.

Here’s some information and reviews from trusted sources PC magazine and C-NET about password managers.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Start making your passwords more secure today.

There. I hope I scared you a little.

Questions? 

[email protected]

My Contact Page

Other articles you might like:

-How your personal brand makes the difference

-Using images: Tips to improve your SEO rankings

-Use a customer thank-you page to avoid missed opportunities

 

About the author

diane-author-300x181 Tips to keep passwords from getting hacked

I developed Image and Aspect because I believe that professionals need to have an impactful web presence. One that showcases their unique talents, skills, and abilities as well as their values and style. A presence that focuses on social engagement and connection.

I’m passionate about what I do; I like helping fellow humans, I like having all kinds of social connection with others, and I want to give back, to make the world a better place.

I do much of the designing and coding myself, and I also have a wonderful network of professionals that may contribute as well; photographers, copywriters, branding experts.

I love designing and coding beautiful, elegant and responsive web creations. I ALSO teach and help others who want to learn how to do it themselves.

‘Tips and Snips’ is my blog, and it’s full of information and inspiration to help transform any online persona from “meh” to AMAZING! Sign-up HERE to get blog posts right to your in-box every Friday! I write about Design, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Branding, Vlogging, Color Theory, HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap, WordPress, Social Media…anything you’d want to know to get yourself noticed online.

Visit Image and Aspect to learn more about your web presence options

Diane M. Metcalf, M.S.

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Reading time: 4 min
Design

 7 web design principles you should know

Principles of Design
October 15, 2020 by Diane Metcalf, M.S.I.T. No Comments

Fact:

You need basic design skills if you’re going to build a great-looking website. There are particular design principles that every Developer must know.

Fact:

It’s important to see how your web platform will look and function from a user’s point of view. It should be relevant for them, visually attractive, and easy (maybe even “fun”!) for them to use.

The first thing a visitor experiences on your site is its look and feel. A sites’ look and feel are both important aspects of web design. If the page doesn’t look professional, it loses credibility. If it’s not balanced, if the colors seem inappropriate or off-brand, if the fonts are hard to see or read, if page elements are missing or not where a user expects them to be (ex: a product search-field), it can contribute to a user experiencing negative feelings about your site, and may increase unwanted page-bounce rates.

Go for Easy

You can improve the quality of your web projects by collaborating with designers. You can also improve the quality of your web projects by learning some fundamental graphic design skills. It doesn’t have to be a difficult thing to do. If you make it an integral part of your development process, you’ll easily be able to incorporate both coding and design fundamentals into your web projects. Later on, you won’t find yourself poring through analytics reports, looking for the causes of high bounce rates.

Your design should be consistent across all pages of the site. Elements should be aligned and balanced, and the pages should be visually attractive as a whole, with no particular element overpowering any other element. And the most important thing is this: know the problem you’re solving with the page, and who you’re solving it for.

Here they are, 7 Design Principles 

alignment-300x157  7 web design principles you should know

Alignment

If you’ve ever used a word processor like MS WORD, then you’re already familiar with Alignment.

Alignment is a basic design principle that describes the way that the text and graphics components are arranged on the page. An example of alignment is choosing “justified” rather than “centered” text. Alignment creates the boundaries between areas on the page, making it easier for the user to see and read the content.

repitition-300x232  7 web design principles you should know

Repetition

“Repetition” can mean several different things, but the most common meaning is the reusing of a pattern, text, or graphic element throughout the entire design. By repeating elements, you can create a sense of consistency and harmony throughout the site.

Repeating an element, such as an image, doesn’t require that it be an exact duplicate, or even that it’s aligned in a particular way. Even slightly changing the look of a reused element is a valid creative technique.

hierarchy-126x300  7 web design principles you should know

Hierarchy

The use of hierarchy creates a sense of importance between the elements, as they relate to each other.

Creating a hierarchy is often accomplished by using a larger font size or font weight for the most important elements. You could also use a different font altogether, or you could make it a contrasting color to the other elements on the page.

Calls To Action (CTA’s) should be at the top of the hierarchy because they are more important than other page elements, and visual attention should be called to them.

balance-300x165  7 web design principles you should know

Balance

Balance is a design principle that uses symmetry and asymmetry, and space, to ensure that no individual element overpowers another on the same page.

Symmetry is a type of visual balance; where all elements are the same distance from the center.

Asymmetry can also be used to create balance. Using asymmetry, heavier looking elements would be on one side of the page, with lighter looking elements on the other side, further from the center, and using more of them.

Try to counter the “weight” of a large element by grouping several smaller elements together on the opposite side.  (If this arrangement consisted of real physical objects, they’d actually balance-out, in the real world.) The design feels balanced when element-distribution is consistent, and when you achieve this challenge visually, you’ve achieved balance on your page.

With practice, you’ll know if it doesn’t “feel” or look quite right, and you’ll also know when it looks and feels balanced.

contrast-300x150  7 web design principles you should know

Contrast

Contrast creates a type of visual interest by combining “opposites”. You can use contrast with textures (smooth and rough), and colors (light and dark), you name it. Get creative with contrast!

Using Contrast is important to make the page visually interesting for the user to look at and engage with.

color-300x300  7 web design principles you should know

Color Psychology

Color choice is an important aspect of design because when used effectively color can influence specific emotions (for example, blue has been shown to solicit calm feelings) or trigger brand recognition (for example, red and white is used for Coke products).

Keep your projects’ color palette simple; four to five colors at most.

fonts-300x72  7 web design principles you should know

Typography

Typography refers to the style and appearance of your written content. Like color, it can be used to influence a variety of emotions and inform users about the nature of your brand.

Use no more than two unique fonts. Using more than two has the potential to cause difficulty in reading the text, competition with the overall design or confusion about the purpose of the site itself.

Helpful Resources:

Google Fonts: HUGE cache of free web fonts.

Coolers: upload an image and automatically create a color palette based on the image colors.

Have fun designing your web pages!

Questions? 

[email protected]

My Contact Page

Other articles you might like:

-Using images: Tips to improve your SEO rankings

-10 Things to Do After Creating Your Website

-6 Tips to Make Your Blog Post SEO Friendly

 

About the author

diane-author-300x181  7 web design principles you should know

I developed Image and Aspect because I believe that professionals need to have an impactful web presence. One that showcases their unique talents, skills, and abilities as well as their values and style. A presence that focuses on social engagement and connection.

I’m passionate about what I do; I like helping fellow humans, I like having all kinds of social connection with others, and I want to give back, to make the world a better place.

I do much of the designing and coding myself, and I also have a wonderful network of professionals that may contribute as well; photographers, copywriters, branding experts.

I love designing and coding beautiful, elegant and responsive web creations. I ALSO teach and help others who want to learn how to do it themselves.

‘Tips and Snips’ is my blog, and it’s full of information and inspiration to help transform any online persona from “meh” to AMAZING! Sign-up HERE to get blog posts right to your in-box every Friday! I write about Design, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Branding, Vlogging, Color Theory, HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap, WordPress, Social Media…anything you’d want to know to get yourself noticed online.

Visit Image and Aspect to learn more about your web presence options

Diane M. Metcalf, M.S.

Read more

Reading time: 5 min

Find Topics

 Image and Aspect is a solution-based web presence development service for creatives, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs. We create impactful online presences that showcase your talents, skills, values & style, while focusing on influencing, engagement & connection.

 

It’s a collaborative process; we use streamlined project-management & communications tools so you’ll always know what’s happening with your project. And by adding personalized service, you get  one-on-one support. We want you to feel equipped, educated & empowered to ask questions & make decisions about your web presence & web platform.

 

Tips and Snips was born from the desire to give back; to support anyone who has an interest in learning the art and science of  web design and coding.

 

Thanks for your interest!

~Diane Metcalf, MS

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Connect with me on Twitter!

Follow @MetcalfDiane

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