Why Strong Passwords Matter More Than Ever
Passwords are the first line of defense for our digital identity – and yet, they’re often neglected. From simple number sequences to reused logins: weak passwords remain one of the leading causes of data breaches. In an age of increasing cyberattacks and near-daily data leaks, it’s more important than ever to raise awareness for better password hygiene.
The Reality: “123456” is Still a Classic
According to the NordPass 2024 password report, “123456” is once again the most commonly used password worldwide. In Germany, “admin” tops the list. Millions of people still rely on passwords that are easy to guess – with serious consequences.
Cybercriminals use automated tools to crack weak passwords in seconds. When a data breach occurs, these passwords are often tested across multiple platforms – a huge problem if you’ve reused them.
“I have nothing to hide” – Really?
This belief is common, but dangerously misleading. Even if your data seems “unimportant” at first glance, attackers can abuse it to:
- Steal your identity
- Send emails in your name
- Access other linked accounts
- Extort or scam you or your contacts
It’s not just about private photos or chats – it’s about your entire digital identity and your trust in online services.
Three Everyday Examples That Show How Quickly It Can Happen
- The compromised streaming account
Your streaming service password was leaked. Attackers use it to send phishing emails or test access to other services. - The reused password
You use the same password for your personal email and your work account. If one gets hacked, both are compromised. - Social engineering with weak passwords
An attacker guesses your password using public info (e.g., birthdate + pet’s name) and gains access to your cloud storage.
When It Gets Expensive: Three Real-World Scenarios
Hacked email leads to identity theft
An attacker gains access to your email via a weak password.
- Resets your other account passwords
- Uses your email for scams or phishing
- Orders goods in your name
Outcome: Financial loss, damage to reputation, tedious recovery process
Online banking access through password recycling
A leaked password from a forum is reused for online banking. A bot tests major banking sites.
Outcome: Drained account, legal issues, possible criminal report
Ransomware in a company via weak admin password
A VPN login is compromised due to a weak password. Attackers install ransomware.
Outcome: Business shutdown, ransom demand, data loss, GDPR breach
Password Check: How Safe Are You?
Run a quick self-check:
Tip: Check if your data has been exposed in a breach: haveibeenpwned.com
Nobody can remember dozens of complex passwords – and they don’t have to. Password managers like Bitwarden, 1Password or KeePass help you generate, store and autofill strong passwords.
The biggest advantage: You only need to remember one master password – the app takes care of the rest.
Even the strongest password could end up in a data leak. That’s why you should always enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible. In addition to your password, you’ll enter a code sent via app or SMS.
This makes it much harder for attackers to access your accounts – even if they have your password.
Conclusion: Password Security Isn’t a “Nice-to-Have”
The effort required for strong passwords is small – but the benefits are huge. By changing a few habits, you protect yourself from real threats and ensure long-term digital safety.
Now is the best time to update weak passwords, start using a password manager, and enable 2FA. Your digital future will thank you.
Computer Security Day
Anti-virus software and ad blockers are common tools to increase your data security on your device. To mark today’s Computer Security Day, here are five more tips on how to improve your computer security.
1. Check before click
Most people get them every day; so-called phishing mails. Mostly disguised as sinfully cheap offers from well-known companies, they want to entice the user to click on a link given in the mail. Via this link, the scammers are able to grab sensitive data such as passwords or install malware.
In the meantime, some mail providers are already filtering out most of these messages. However, if you are not sure whether an email is legitimate, it is better not to click on it in the first place.
2. Don’t recycle your passwords
Remembering one or two passwords is not a problem for most people. Having one for every account is far too many to remember.
In such cases, the “solution” seems quite obvious: simply use the same password several times so that you don’t have to click on “Forgot your password?”. However, this may become really dangerous if the universal password is stolen. Especially if sensitive data, such as the PayPal account, is protected with them.
A password manager can provide a remedy, as it generates and saves all passwords for you.
3. Attention with Wi-Fi
They can be extremely practical. We’re talking about public Wi-Fi networks: quickly answer an email on the train or do your work from the café around the corner.
However, these public networks are usually not encrypted. This means that anyone could theoretically read the data stream between their own device and the network and, in the worst case, even damage the device.
It is therefore advisable to have a VPN set up when using public networks.
4. Protect your browser
Browsers are the gateway to the Internet, so it is all the more important to protect them properly. A first step towards more security while surfing is to always keep the application up to date. This way, security gaps can be constantly closed.
In addition, plug-ins to protect against phishing and malware can increase the security of your browser. These can be activated relatively easy with most providers.
5. Secure on the go in the cloud
Uploading your own data to the cloud can be very handy, for example, if you want to quickly share pictures or expand your own storage space. But when the data is uploaded to the cloud “just like that”, it is not safe from strangers’ eyes. The reason is quite simple; the data is unprotected in the cloud; once someone has gained access, they can simply access all the data without any obstacles. This can be easily avoided; Cryptomator puts your data in the cloud in a secure safe and thus protects it from foreign eyes.
You can read how this works in our article on encrypting Dropbox.
You want to encrypt your cloud with Cryptomator? Download here.
World Backup Day: How to Be on the Safe Side
Basically, there are two types of people: Those who back up regularly and those who have never lost data. On the occasion of “World Backup Day”, we want to explain to you why you should think about creating a backup regularly, even if you have been lucky so far.
What does a backup actually do?
In general, a backup is a copy of your data. This can be your smartphone, your laptop, your hard drive, family photos, etc. If your device stops working for any reason, your data is not lost if you have created a backup. Therefore, it is recommended to back up your data at regular intervals to prevent major losses.
How do I create a backup?
It is important that your data is stored in an external location. Many still associate a backup with an external data carrier, such as a hard drive. However, this is inferior to the modern cloud variant in two elementary points.
In general, every device has a certain percentage probability of failure. In the case of a hard drive, for example, this failure probability can be between 1.7% (in the first year) and 8.6% (in the third year), not including possible external circumstances such as fire or water damage. Of course, you can also create a backup on several hard drives, the more you use, the lower the probability of failure.
Another risk factor with external hard drives is the lack of geographic redundancy, in short, location independence. In other words, if your house catches fire, both your computer and the backup on the hard drive are gone. Of course, that’s a rather drastic way of putting it, but that is the basic concept. You can achieve geographical redundancy by storing the data on the servers of cloud providers; it is not uncommon for them to be geographically distributed all over the world.
The problem of the failure probability is minimized by arranging the hard drives in parallel. In short, this means that several functionally identical, redundant copies of the backup exist at the same time, but only one of these needs to function in order to make the backup data available. You can think of this as mirroring data, with each mirroring the risk of data loss decreases.
How do I protect my backup in the cloud?
Generally, your data is protected in the cloud behind an account. However, they are of course still stored on servers and are therefore never 100% secure from unauthorized access. With the help of cloud encryption, you can take the security of your data into your own hands. With Cryptomator, you can create a kind of “magic” vault that can only be accessed by those who have the correct password to open the vault. This way, attackers can theoretically still access the cloud, but cannot do anything with the encrypted data.
You can download Cryptomator free of charge here.