Proper password safety is an area where many of us fall short. We live in a fast-paced world, and often it is easier to sacrifice extra security in the name of convenience. It may be time to reevaluate your password habits, and Google has introduced a new utility to help that process. Google has recently released “Password Checkup”, a Chrome extension which searches for your passwords within their databases of over four billion compromised data breach passwords.
Password breaches are unfortunately becoming more common occurrences. With over 4 billion known compromised passwords, it is not a simple task to cross-reference these databases to check your password security. Password Checkup is a easy-to-use tool that will securely do this for you. All password communication to Google’s servers is done fully encrypted. This means attackers cannot compromise Password Checkup to steal your passwords. Even if attackers managed to find a vulnerability in Google’s application, the encryption will keep your information safe.
While a powerful tool for evaluating your password security, Password Checkup is no substitute for good password habits. It is recommended that you use a password manager to create a unique password for every site you use. If you fail to do this, at least ensure that your passwords are adequately long (at least 8 characters – the higher the better) and complex (use uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols). If your websites and devices support two-factor authentication, make sure to enable it.
And as always, stay safe out there.
Jake Malony
On behalf of the staff at PJ Networks
