May 5 is World Password Day, a global chance for families and companies to improve their password habits. According to recent password statistics, over 80% of data breaches are due to poor password security, and 51% of people have the same password for their work and personal accounts. 
As the founder and CEO of Senior Savvy, I educate thousands weekly on the tech skills needed to excel in today’s world. Regularly featured on The List TV, ABC News, and USA Today, I’m eager to share my password expertise with your audience.
Here are five tips for improving your passwords:

1. Choose the better 12 over the basic 8. The longer, the better. A 10-character password takes at least four months to crack, 11 characters takes a decade, and 12 characters will take two centuries. The longer, the better!
2. Use a passphrase core. A passphrase is a sentence-like string of words used for authentication that is longer than a traditional password, easy to remember and difficult to crack. Limit your risk by having a unique passphrase for all your accounts by customizing the ending.
3. Complexity is king. Don’t use publicly sourced info, like your puppy’s name that can be found on your Facebook page or Twitter account. Randomly generated passwords are best, preferably ones that use numerals and special characters.
4. Don’t recycle passwords – Hackers know we’re lazy. If they steal one of your passwords, they’ll try it on all of your accounts. You wouldn’t want intruders to get into your bank account because it had the same password as your Shutterfly account, would you?
5. Use a password manager. Free yourself from having to create these passwords. A good password manager will make randomized passwords that are difficult to crack, and it takes the pressure off you. I recommend 1 Password and LastPass (available on all devices).