Your computer accounts are dedicated user profiles for the various services you access. Each of these accounts should be protected to prevent unwanted people from accessing your personal information. Two things you can do to protect these accounts are using strong passwords and using multifactor authentication (MFA).

Passwords

• The most common way to protect any of your user accounts is with a strong password. Typically, this means making a password that would be difficult for someone else to guess. The password should also be of sufficient length to prevent someone from using an automated system to guess your password.

  • Preferably, the password would be at least sixteen characters and have a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters without repetitive or sequential use of characters.

• Passwords should be unique to each account.

• If you are having trouble remembering all of your unique passwords, you might consider a password manager app. This application can securely store your various account details behind its own strong password. This means you only need to remember one password.

  • When selecting a password manager, be sure to check the user reviews and ensure the application is from a trustworthy source.

Multifactor Authentication (MFA)

In addition to your password, you can make computer accounts even more secure by using multifactor authentication (MFA). When you access an account with MFA, you will also need to have access to an additional device or system which was tied to the account. Common examples are smart phone apps or secondary e-mail accounts. MFA makes it more difficult for unauthorized users to access your accounts, because a password alone is not sufficient.

• MFA should be used on any accounts that process or contain sensitive information such as credit card numbers. Examples of companies that offer MFA for their accounts include Apple/iTunes, Facebook, Google/Gmail, Amazon, Microsoft/XBox Live, Sony Playstation Network. Please visit the official websites for these companies for more information about their MFA services.