The most common mistakes when using passwords and how to avoid them

• Using passwords with a personal reference, e.g. birth dates, family names, hobbies - attackers can find out these personal details, e.g. with research in social media, and thus attack your accounts.
• Too simple passwords, e.g. simple words - with so-called dictionary attacks, which can try through a lot of known words very quickly, your password is guessed in no time.
• Even inserting special characters or numbers into known words does not protect - attackers know these tricks too, of course, and try typical combinations quickly.
• Changing passwords too often - many people tend to use simple passwords in these cases and vary them slightly each time they change
• Remembering passwords in the browser or simply always staying logged in - if you ever leave your computer unattended in cafes, for example, or if it is even stolen from you, attackers who get to your computer may quickly be in your important accounts.
• Using the same password for several or even all accounts - if one of your accounts is compromised, in this case all other accounts are quickly at risk as well.

A great help to avoid these problems are so-called password managers, such as Steganos Password Manager. With these, you can create a secure database of your passwords, secured by a single, strong password that you remember.

Passwords are requested only when needed and cannot be easily used without active action on your part at your PC. Since you only need to remember one password and the password manager creates strong, complex passwords for each account at the touch of a button, you avoid the typical mistakes and can also quickly replace compromised passwords with a new, strong password if needed.

Your passwords will also be safe in case your PC is lost, because without the secure master password that only you know, no one can access your password database.

In addition to using a password manager, it is recommended to enable and use secure two-factor authentication where possible, as this is yet another security factor that attackers will have to overcome even if your password is guessed or hacked in some way.

It is also a good idea to regularly check your PC for malware, because if your PC is compromised by Trojans or something similar, unfortunately even the best password won't help.