Why Good Password Management Matters

Sarah Micheletti

Jan. 4, 2025

Tech Tips

Whether or not you're a New Year's resolution kinda person, I want you to add a to-do to the list for this first week of January: Update all of your passwords to sites and apps you use for your business, your email, and personal finance and health sites and apps.

Ideally, update all your passwords everywhere, but I know asking that is probably A Bit Much. Look, it's a not-fun-adult-thing-to-do, but something you'll regret skipping when future-you is dealing with a hacked Instagram account being held hostage for ransom.

Password tips

Make them long, make them unique, and make them random.

The internet is a jumbled mess of different requirements depending on the website, so you’ll likely be beholden to certain requirements and limitations. But you’re aiming to create a password that your brain likely won’t ever remember. To do that, I’m going to plug a random password generator that Seth (our resident nerd and tech expert) built and made publicly accessible.

You’re not going to remember these passwords, so pick a means of storing them and stick with that. It’s considered not the best but not the worst to save them via your browser, depending on the browser, as ones like Chrome will store an encrypted version of your password locally. The safer alternative is a password manager, like 1Password or LastPass, but at the end of the day, nothing is perfectly safe, so stick with a method that’s generally ok and accept that danger rather than the danger of using the same, easy password across every website ever.

2FA, MFA, and authenticator apps

If you haven't already, consider turning on 2-factor authentication (2FA), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and/or setting up authentication codes for whatever accounts allow it. An authenticator app is preferable to using a text or email code, but not always an option depending on the platform. These extra steps when logging in, like having to enter a code texted to your phone or using an authenticator app's rotating code, add extra security. We’re trying to make it that much harder for a person or computer to get into your stuff, so any extra step is an extra level of effort for them to do.

Do it now (but safely)

Last extra step we’ll put out there; when you’re doing this, make sure you’re either on your cell service, on your home wifi (with all latest updates installed to your router and a good wifi password), or even better, using a VPN. Virtual private networks (VPNs), put most simply, are an extra connection between you and the internet through a third party server that can then mask your IP address and encrypt your personal data. I’ve personally delayed on subscribing to one for years now, but for 2025 will start using one moving forward. Seth and I cannot stress how important it is to never do critical tasks like changing your password or accessing financial services on free wifi at a coffee shop, airport, etc. Just trust us, don’t do it.

So because you’re so pumped and ready to do this lame-o task of updating your passwords NOW, just make sure you’re doing it in a safe way. You got this! 🙌

Questions? Comments? We don’t have the fancy ability to do that on the blog yet, but feel free to email via our contact link or DM on insta 👋