ODC Tech editorial team invites all our readers to participate on Change your password Day, a National initiative to prevent risks of being hacked.

• We live online: Most of our activities and transactions are online. Therefore, we need to learn to change our passwords to avoid losses.
• We are safe: We do not need to worry about getting hacked and harmed. Celebrating the holiday helps us to maintain cyber security.
• We reduce crime: Being susceptible to getting hacked is making crime easier to commit. We reduce crime when we wise up and frustrate the efforts of unscrupulous hackers.

With the help of password-cracking programs and ever-increasing computing power, it’s pretty easy for hackers to guess weak passwords, even if they’re encrypted or hashed. If you are using the same password for multiple accounts, a breach in one account can lead to the compromise of all of them.

Changing passwords regularly doesn’t really work. It’s a much better idea to use strong and, more important, unique passwords.

A strong password is:

1. Long: At least 16 characters
2. Unique: Every online account should have its own password
3. Imaginary: Don’t use a word straight out of the dictionary, or a common phrase
4. Mixed: Sprinkle in a few capital, lowercase, numbers, and symbols 

How to keep online data safe?

You can make use of password managers. These free and secure apps help generate your passwords whenever you need them.

Use the Two Factor Authentication, where possible. Ensure you use passwords with different symbol combinations.

Change your Password Day: February 1st, 2023.