Password Security
One reused password is a single point of failure for every account that shares it. When one site gets breached, that password gets tested everywhere else you use it.
Data breaches happen constantly. When a service you use leaks credentials, attackers run those credentials against other sites automatically — banking, email, anything. If your passwords are reused, one breach becomes many. Your email account is the highest-value target because every other account's password reset flows through it.
Using the same password across multiple accounts, or making small variations that are easy to guess — adding a number at the end, capitalizing the first letter. Attackers test common variations automatically. A slightly modified reused password is not meaningfully safer than the original.
Use a password manager. It generates a unique, strong password for every account and stores them all so you do not have to remember them. You remember one password — the manager handles the rest. Bitwarden is free, open-source, and works across devices. Once the manager is set up, enable two-step verification on your email account. That single step is the highest-impact change most people have not made.
Use the Password Auditor to check the strength of a password before you commit to it. It does not store what you enter.
Start with the two accounts that matter most.
- 1.Download and set up Bitwarden — it is free and takes about ten minutes
- 2.Change your email account password to a unique one generated by the manager
- 3.Enable two-step verification on your email account
- 4.Change your bank account password to something unique
- 5.Check haveibeenpwned.com to see whether your email appeared in a known breach