Students: Passwords are hard to remember
You don't have to do it alone!
You may have heard that Kanye West was in a meeting with the former president and pulled out his phone to show Trump a GIF. Cameras behind him picked up his iPhone PIN, “000000,” and streamed it live. Knowing you have such weak digital security could trigger an attacker to say “I bet your bank account password isn’t very good either.”
You’ve heard the advice – probably many times – that you should create strong, unique passwords for all your online accounts. However, according to a 2019 Google study, more than 80% of people use a single password/key across multiple websites, but reusing your passwords puts you at greater risk of falling victim to hackers as they take stolen data information and use it to try to systematically log into other accounts.
What can you do to protect your passwords? Here are some tips for protecting your passwords.
Use Multiple E-Mails
One way to protect your accounts is to use multiple email addresses instead of relying on the same email for each login. But you don’t need to have multiple email accounts to do this.
Gmail and Microsoft Office 365 allow you to use “plus” email addresses for this purpose. So, Maria Fernandez can sign up for Amazon with “[email protected]” and sign up for Facebook with “[email protected]”, but messages sent to each address will land in the inbox at [email protected].
By using multiple email accounts for security, you reduce the impact that one account being hacked can have upon you. The process of mitigating the hack is also much easier, because it won’t be able to trickle into every aspect of your life
Make your Passwords Stronger
While creating unique passwords for each account, make sure your passwords are long and complex, making them harder to guess. Everything that is obvious to you is also obvious to others.
Never use sequential numbers or letters, and for the love of all things cyber, do not use “password” as your password. Come up with unique passwords that do not include any personal info such as your name. If you’re being specifically targeted for a password hack, the hacker will put everything they know about you in their guess attempts.
Most importantly, NEVER use the same password twice. If you reuse the same password everywhere, your accounts will fall like dominoes if one of them is grabbed by hackers.
Tips to make your keys/passwords more secure:
– Make each password at least 15 characters long.
– Use lowercase and uppercase letters, as well as digits and punctuation marks.
– Don’t use any information that can be found on social networks: don’t use your birthday or pets’ names in your passwords.
Use a Password Management Application
If you rely on your own memory to memorize a lot of passwords you’re more likely to lean toward a few short, simple passwords. Fortunately, there is a solution.
Password management applications are applications that keep all your passwords in one place. You only have to remember one master password that allows you to access the password manager, so you don`t have to keep remembering all the passwords you`ve ever had, as it protects all the other passwords you have. `
This is more secure than having my browser remember passwords. For example, on a Mac where Chrome uses my Apple keychain, a hacker could access all my information once they have your Gmail password.
If you tend to reuse the same passwords for many logins, especially when it comes to banking and money-related accounts, a password manager app could save you from being scammed as hackers tend to try the same password in different places.
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How to Avoid Scholarship Scams
It’s no secret that scholarships are a great way to find free money for college. While it’s now easier than ever to search for scholarship opportunities online, easier navigation on the internet also makes it easier for online scammers.
Unfortunately, many families have fallen victim to scholarship scammers who are stealing millions of dollars from families every year. Your goal is to get money for college, and it shouldn’t cost you anything to apply for scholarships.
The good news is that there are red flags to look out for to avoid becoming the victim of a scholarship scam. A general rule of thumb – if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Learn the signs to protect yourself against being defrauded and find scholarships that are right for you. Here are 3 tips to avoid scholarship scams:
- Be cautious of fees: Applying for scholarships should not cost money. Be cautions of scholarships with application fees and never pay to get scholarship information. Scholarship databases are free and readily available online. Be on the lookout for phrases like “Guaranteed or your money back.” Scholarship websites can’t guarantee that you will win a scholarship because they’re not deciding on the winner. Legitimate scholarships won’t require an upfront fee when you submit the application.
- Protect your data: Never reveal financial information such as your social security number, credit card numbers, checking information or bank account numbers to apply for scholarships. Scholarship scammers could use this information to commit identity theft.
- Get a second opinion: If you’re still unsure, talk with trusted organizations about which websites they recommend. School counselors, librarians, financial aid offices, and local community organizations have knowledge and tools to guide you in the right direction.
ABOUT IO SCHOLARSHIPS
The majority of the scholarships featured on the IOScholarships website come directly from corporations and organizations, rather than solely from competitive national pools – thereby maximizing the number of opportunities students have to earn funding for their education. Each month IO Scholarships adds hundreds of new curated scholarships to its database and posts “The Scholarship of the Week” on its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram social media accounts (@IOScholarships), making it easy to find new scholarship opportunities.
In addition to providing scholarships, IO Scholarships website offers a free scholarship organizer, news articles designed to provide guidance on how to apply for scholarships, and money saving tips. The platform also offers a Career Aptitude Quiz designed to help students identify the degrees and professions that best fit their skills.
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