Why You Should Use a Unique Password for Every Online Account

So, you’re signing up for yet another online service. It’ll probably ask you to choose passwords with rules like: one lower case, one upper case letter, number, symbol, sigil, mark and cypher. Well, there is a good reason to put it all there. Protect your online accounts with unique passwords. Learn why reusing passwords is risky and unsafe with ForestVPN.

The Power of a Unique Password

It’s Not Just About Length and Complexity

These rules alone are not enough. The cold, hard truth is, it doesn’t matter how long or complicated your password is—if you’ve used it before, it’s not a good password. To understand why you should never use the same password twice, you need to know a little bit about how brute-force password cracking works.

How Brute-Force Password Cracking Works

Bad guys don’t just guess random passwords. They guess from huge lists of passwords stolen from other companies, trying hundreds of millions of passwords a second. These lists grow larger every day as more and more companies fall victim to hacks, data breaches, and leaks.

Let’s say a hacker is trying to get into your bank account. Banks like to boast about their state-of-the-art security systems, how strong their encryption standards are, how dedicated their fraud department is, etc. But it all means nothing if your password is the same one you used last year to sign up for a mobile game whose parent company was just hacked.

Data breaches are unpredictable and increasingly common. You simply can’t be sure one of your old passwords won’t end up on a hacker forum tomorrow. What you can be sure of, however, is that none of those passwords will work on any of your current accounts—as long as you’ve chosen new, unique passwords for each.

The Need for Strong Passwords

Of course, it isn’t enough to simply have passwords that you’ve never used before. To avoid being the victim of brute-force password cracking, you need to have passwords that no one has ever used before.

You probably don’t have time to check your new password against a list of every password in history, but what you can do is make sure your password is long and difficult to guess. Increasing the length of your password is the easiest trick. Just one extra character will exponentially increase the time it will take to crack a password by brute-force.

For example, any six-character password can be cracked in around two minutes with an average computer. For seven characters, 17 minutes. And for eight characters, three hours. ForestVPN recommends passwords of at least 17 characters, which would likely take hundreds of thousands of years to crack by brute-force.

Length alone is often not enough, however; passwords must also be difficult to guess. In targeted attacks, password crackers can use dictionaries and natural language corpuses to guess passwords from common words, phrases, quotations, etc. That doesn’t mean they necessarily have to be a random string of characters. Strong passwords can have words inside (like the famous “correct horse battery staple” example*) but those words should not be semantically related to each other. Easier said than done!

Tips for Creating Strong, Unique Passwords

Tools and Techniques for Password Security

There are tons of tips and tools available to help you create strong, unique passwords. But here’s our best advice:

• If you just need one or a few passwords, use ForestVPN’s Random Password Generator.
• If you need new passwords for all your online accounts, consider getting a password manager. A good password manager will not only help you generate strong, unique passwords for as many logins as you need and store them securely, it will keep them all accessible through a single, primary password (sometimes called a master password).
• If you already have a password manager and want to create an ultra-secure primary password, we recommend Diceware. Diceware is especially secure because it operates offline, uses real dice for randomness, and generates an easy-to-remember passphrase.

Make sure your ForestVPN password is unique! Are you using a unique password for ForestVPN? Take this opportunity to do a password security check. When in doubt, start fresh. Follow this guide to update your ForestVPN password now.

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Config file HAProxy pfSense

Configuring HAProxy on pfSense involves modifying the configuration file to define frontend and backend settings, as well as specifying ACLs (Access Control Lists) and backend servers. Here’s a brief overview of the steps:

1. Accessing the Configuration File: Log in to pfSense and navigate to the HAProxy configuration directory, typically located at /usr/local/etc/haproxy/.
2. Defining Frontend and Backend Settings: Open the haproxy.cfg file in a text editor and define frontend settings, such as the listening IP address and port, as well as backend settings, including the server’s IP address and port.
3. Configuring ACLs: Utilize ACLs to define conditions for routing traffic, such as based on HTTP headers, URL paths, or source IP addresses. This allows for more granular control over traffic forwarding.
4. Specifying Backend Servers: Define backend servers to which traffic will be forwarded based on the conditions specified in the ACLs. This includes specifying server IP addresses, ports, and any additional settings required.
5. Saving and Applying Changes: Once the configuration file has been updated, save the changes and apply them to HAProxy. This typically involves restarting the HAProxy service to ensure the new configuration is loaded properly.

By carefully configuring HAProxy on pfSense, users can effectively manage and distribute incoming traffic to backend servers, improving the performance, reliability, and security of their network infrastructure.

Ready to enhance your network security and performance? Consider integrating ForestVPN into your infrastructure. With robust encryption and advanced features, ForestVPN ensures your data remains secure and your online activities are protected. Explore ForestVPN today at ForestVPN.com!

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FAQs

Why is using the same password for multiple accounts risky?

Reusing passwords across multiple accounts increases the risk of unauthorized access if one of those accounts is compromised. Hackers often try credentials from breached accounts on other platforms.

How can I remember all my unique passwords?

Consider using a password manager to securely store and manage your passwords. Password managers offer convenience and security by generating and remembering complex passwords for you.

Is it safe to include common words in my passwords?

While incorporating common words can make passwords easier to remember, it also makes them more vulnerable to dictionary attacks. It’s best to use a combination of random characters, numbers, and symbols for maximum security.

Can I trust password generators to create secure passwords?

Yes, reputable password generators, like ForestVPN’s Random Password Generator, use secure algorithms to generate strong, unique passwords that are resistant to brute-force attacks.

How often should I change my passwords?

It’s recommended to periodically change your passwords, especially after security breaches or if you suspect unauthorized access. However, frequent password changes alone are not sufficient; ensuring each password is unique and strong is paramount to security.