Hacking Alert! One In Every Four Indians Has A Weak Password, Make It Stronger

With cyber crimes increasing at an alarming rate, Indians are at great risk if a recent report is to be believed.

According to cyber security company Kapersky, one out of every four Indians has a weak password, DNA reported. A weak password means it can be easily decoded by hackers.

Users must be aware that there’s only one password wall between their personal data and hackers. So if the wall is weak, it becomes easy for hackers to access their accounts — not only personal data but also bank accounts.

Yet, people are continuing to avoid strong passwords. One reason could be because there are so many different accounts which are password-protected, many set passwords which can be easily remembered.

Hence, the biggest lesson for Internet users is to set different passwords for different accounts, rather than repeating them. The report says, one person creates about 27 different accounts which have online access to bank accounts ranging from social media, e-commerce companies. Since most of the passwords are same, they become easy targets for hackers.

Cyber expert Jitan Jain also pointed out that the biggest mistake people make is to save passwords on the browser. “We usually save passwords on any website to save time. That makes the hackers’ job easier,” Jain said.

Password tips

Passwords of 5 to 6 characters can be easily cracked in just 10 minutes. In case of 6 to 8 characters, it takes half an hour to hack accounts. But when the password is of 8 to 12 characters, it is very difficult to crack it.

Another cyber expert Amit Dubey cautioned people not to set a password with their personal information. Also, there should not be numbers or characters in a series.