Got Cancer as password? Astrology fans, don’t use horoscope for this! Check these astro tips

Fans of Astrology keep passwords after their horoscope star signs like Cancer, Aries, Scorpio, Gemini etc. However, keeping Zodiac signs as passwords is dangerous. Follow these astro tips now.

Astrology lovers should not use their horoscope star signs such as Cancer, Gemini, Scorpio, Capricorn for passwords. Zodiac signs as passwords are risky, check these astro tips, stay safe (Pixabay)

Are you an astrology lover who never misses out on checking astrology predictions online? That's great, but we hope you do not bring your enthusiasm for astrology into the digital security space. Checking your horoscope star sign to see what your next week will look like is one thing but to use it as your password for online accounts can be a very risky affair. So, don't keep your password Cancer, Gemini, Scorpio, Aries or Capricorn. While Zodiac signs are very easy to remember, do know that a hacker can also very easily guess and break into your account to steal your data and even your money! So, here is our astrology tip of the day for you - make your password strong and unique to protect from hackers and scammers. And if you don't know how to do it, that's okay. We have shared some tips to make your passwords strong and unique based on a report by Dojo tech. Follow our astro tips to avoid getting hacked.

There are certain passwords you should never keep. Names, date of birth, pet names, zodiac signs or star signs and number sequences like 1234 are an absolute no when it comes to protecting the safety of your accounts. A recent report analyzed UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) data “on over 100,000 breached passwords” to categorize the most vulnerable passwords that a person can create. And they highlighted that an easy password is not necessarily the best password. Check out the worst passwords in terms of security that you can keep.

Never keep these weak passwords

From Cancer to ‘iloveyou' to cheeseburger, the list of weak passwords are endless. However, there are some passwords which are weaker than others. Yes, even worse than horoscope based passwords! In fact, these passwords are so bad that they made it to Dojo's top 5 most commonly hacked passwords list. And despite how silly you may think these are, millions of people are using these weak passwords. Check out the list.

1. 123456 (used by 23.2 million users)

2. 123456789 (7.7 million users)

3. Qwerty (3.8 million users)

4. Password (3.6 million users)

5. 1111111 (3.1 million users)

6. Please do not use these passwords.

Why Horoscope passwords are not a good choice

The same report found out that horoscope star sign passwords ranked 20 out of 30 in the list of most vulnerable passwords. Since a person's Zodiac sign is decided by their date of birth, a very common piece of information, it is quite easy to guess someone's password. For example, if a person born in the later half of June or first half of July keeps the password Cancer, then a hacker will have no problem guessing it. Not only Cancer but all horoscope based passwords like Scorpio, Gemini, Capricorn, Aquarius, Aries and others are at an exactly same risk. There are a total of 12 Astrology passwords so a hacker will not really need a lot of time to guess the right one. But don't worry. Take our astro tips with a difference given below that will help you pick a stronger and more unique password to keep the hackers at bay. This was reported by London-headquartered financial services firm Dojo came out with a report on ‘Top most hacked passwords'. Astrology tips are all very well and you can follow them freely, but not as passwords.

How to make your password strong and unique

Step 1:

Keep your passwords a mix of numbers, alphabets and special characters to make it hard to guess. Randomize these characters for better efficiency.

Step 2:

Make sure to have a password which is at least 8-12 characters long. Longer passwords will make it harder for a hacker to figure out correctly.

Step 3:

Use two-factor authentication or if possible multi factor authentication to have multiple hurdles before someone can hack into your account. Mobile OTP is a very good way to add layers to your password security.

Step 4:

Change your password regularly so even if your password was compromised, your account can stay safe.

Step 5:

Do not write down your passwords on cheque books, or other bank account books or papers you have. Do not send them on social media like WhatsApp, Facebook etc either.