Recent news that Russian criminals have stolen 1.2 billion passwords serves as a reminder to follow best practices when it comes to protecting your online accounts.

This is an evolving security story where all the facts aren’t out yet, but based on the information we have, our customers’ data and login credentials have not been impacted.

Still, reports of massive username and password compromises, from any sites, provide the opportunity to reinforce some password best practices:

1. Don’t use the same password for all your sites

This is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself. Create unique passwords for each site that you use.

2. Use a reputable password manager to store your passwords

There are many apps on the market today that allow you to easily manage your online passwords. A password manager can also help you create longer, more complex passwords.

3. Change your passwords regularly

Whenever there is a major leak of stolen passwords, it’s a good idea to change the passwords on all your sites just to be safe. This is especially important if you’ve been using the same password across sites (see tip number one). A hacker with the password from one compromised site will try to compromise ALL your sites that share that password.

Protect your online accounts

Give yourself some peace of mind by following these tips for protecting your online passwords: don’t use the same password for all your sites, use a password manager to store and create your passwords, and change your passwords regularly.