CA: Use World Password Day to Focus on Online Safety

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Ashley Moody is recommending Floridians use this 2022 World Password Day to focus on online safety. Most Americans have at least a dozen online accounts that require passwords. World Password Day is a good reminder for consumers to ensure passwords are secure and that accounts made years ago are updated with strong passwords to prevent hackers.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “World Password Day is a great reminder to be proactive in managing your online security through the creation of strong passwords. For more tips to help better protect your online accounts check out the tips in our latest Consumer Alert.”

Attorney General Moody is issuing new tips to help Floridians create strong passwords and store existing passwords, including:

• Use a password generator to create sophisticated passwords;
• Utilize trustworthy multifactor authentication sites, as described in this Consumer Alert;
• Keep an encrypted log of passwords;
• Never use personal information or real words in a password since hackers use malicious programs that can process every word in a dictionary to crack passwords;
• Don’t share passwords between friends and family members, as it adds more chances of a password being leaked; and
• When changing compromised passwords, do more than minor tweaks to a password since recycled passwords with small tweaks are the easiest to hack.

For World Password Day last year, Attorney General Moody released tips encouraging Floridians to create strong passwords to protect against identity theft, hackers and online fraud. To read last year’s World Password Day news release, click here.

The Attorney General’s Office also has a Scams at a Glance: Identity Theft resource for consumers. This brochure provides warning signs for identity theft, additional ways to guard private information and steps to recover from identity theft.

To access the Scams at a Glance webpage for more content related to common scams, click here.