Usernames are essential for security and anonymity online. But some people come up with username ideas to stand out or align with a brand. Usernames can also help gain followers or build a social media following.
With so many possibilities, coming up with username ideas can be challenging! Luckily, there are plenty of tools and methods to create unique usernames.
Whether you're aiming for fame or privacy, we have username ideas to help you create unique usernames easily!
Using unique credentials (including passwords and usernames) can mitigate many cybersecurity vulnerabilities. When paired with a <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">password manager like TeamPassword</a>, strong usernames and passwords can protect you against attacks. Sign up for a 14-day free TeamPassword trial today!
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h2>Why You Need to Use Unique Usernames</h2>
There are several reasons people want unique usernames ideas:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Security</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Anonymity</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Popularity</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Humor</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Business name ideas</li>
</ul>
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>Unique Usernames for Security</h3>
Many people don't know about the importance of using unique or secure usernames for online security. Reusing usernames can be just as troublesome as <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/colonial-pipeline-ransomware-attack-dont-reuse-passwords">reusing passwords</a>.
If criminals steal your credentials from a <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/category/data-breaches">data breach</a>, they can use your username to figure out where else you have accounts and deploy spear-phishing attacks using fake correspondence to steal your credentials.
For example, hackers will send you a "password reset" from Instagram because they "suspect suspicious activity!" If you use unique usernames for every account, the attackers won't find your Instagram profile!
Don't think that you won't fall for these ploys! Many individuals with regular cybersecurity training fall victim to phishing attacks. Cybercriminals know that if they keep trying, they'll catch you when you're distracted or in a hurry.&nbsp;
In effect, unique usernames act as a second password, preventing anyone from finding your accounts with a single username.
What are some username mistakes that could put you at risk?
Don't use easy-to-guess information that could be found elsewhere on the web or sensitive info such as your social security or phone number.&nbsp;
<h4>What should not be included in a username so that it's secure?</h4>
<ol>
<li>
Personal Information: Avoid using any personal information such as your real name, date of birth, or address as part of your username.
</li>
<li>
Passwords or PINs: Do not use your passwords, PINs or other sensitive information as your username.
</li>
<li>
TMI: Do not include too much information that could potentially give away your identity, such as your phone number or email address.
</li>
<li>
Phishing Traps: Do not include any words or phrases that could be used in phishing attempts, such as "password", "admin", "login", etc.
</li>
</ol>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Unique Usernames for Anonymity</h3>
Aligned with security is anonymity. Maintaining anonymity online can protect you from cyberattacks and prevent work colleagues, clients, and other companies or individuals from finding you online.
Many people want to separate their professional profiles from their personal ones while maintaining an online presence. Using unique usernames can hide the profiles you prefer to keep private.
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>Unique Usernames for Fame, Popularity, Attention</h3>
A good Instagram username can help you stand out and boost your online presence. If your username is unique or obscure, it could lead to more profile clicks and followers.
A good example is French Connection UK or @FCUK. At first glance, the username looks like an expletive, drawing people's attention to the brand.
People often use made-up words, obscure combinations, and other naming conventions to grab attention online.
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>Unique Usernames for Humor</h3>
Humor is another reason people often want unique username ideas. For example, @PickledElephantTusk is sure to get people's attention and perhaps a chuckle at the ridiculousness.
Funny usernames are great for social media profiles, but you might want to avoid these if you're trying to aim for security or anonymity!
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>Business Name Ideas</h3>
Most startups want a unique brand name, including URL and social media usernames. Startups can ensure that every digital touchpoint is unique to their brand by choosing an available unique username first.
While using the same username is necessary for branding on social media channels, companies should always choose different, unidentifiable usernames for non-public accounts&mdash;email marketing apps, keyword research tools, productivity tools, accounting apps, etc.
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h2>How Can You Get Unique Usernames Ideas?</h2>
There are many places you go for unique username ideas. Here are a few of our best sources for inspiration:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Pinterest</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Username generators</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Google Search - type a word and look through the autocompletes. This is also an excellent way to find trending usernames</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Instagram hashtags</li>
</ul>
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h2>Here are a Couple of Methods for Thinking of Great Usernames Ideas</h2>
If you're looking for inspiration, here are three methods for coming up with great username ideas. We've included processes for creativity, speed, and security.
<h3>Creating Your Own Unique Usernames</h3>
The best way to create unique username ideas is by combining two or three mismatched words with a number. First, come up with two or three categories, and then pick a word from each.
For example, let&rsquo;s choose the two categories fish, and US State:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">US State: Idaho</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Fish: Pufferfish</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Number: 13</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">@IdahoPufferfish13</li>
</ul>
You can come up with funny and cute usernames using this method. It's also a fantastic creative exercise some people might find entertaining.
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>Use a Username Generator</h3>
If you don't want to waste time coming up with usernames yourself, a username generator is a fantastic option to create unique usernames fast!
Some username generator tools will let you add a prefix, suffix, or number and randomize the rest. This method works well if you're trying to find unique username ideas for a specific industry, like fitness, health, tech, etc.
Some username generators even provide a social media search function to see if your unique username is available on the relevant platforms&mdash;providing you speed and efficiency!
Random username generators are also excellent for security because you avoid familiarity, making it less likely for attackers to find you.
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>Use a Password Generator</h3>
Password generators are great for creating unique username ideas. Password generators produce random strings with letters and numbers, significantly reducing the possibility of someone identifying you.
Try creating a username with TeamPassword's password generator:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Visit our <a href="https://teampassword.com/password-generator" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">free password generator</a></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Deselect symbols (most platforms don't allow symbols in the username. Keep this selected if your platform does allow it!)</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Our password generator only allows a minimum of 12 characters. If you need a shorter user name, drop the characters you don't need</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Copy/paste your random username to use when signing up for a new account</li>
</ol>
Remember to use our password generator with uppercase, lowercase, symbols, and numbers to create a secure unique password.&nbsp;
TeamPassword's password manager features a built-in password generator that suggests and pastes a strong password into forms during signup or resets. <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a free 14-day free trial</a> to start managing your usernames and passwords securely.
&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h2>How You Can Secure Your Accounts Using a Password Manager</h2>
Usernames and passwords are the keys to your individual and company accounts. These credentials prevent attackers from breaching your devices, networks, social media, apps, financial services, and more.
Most companies have hundreds of accounts requiring authentication daily. Often team members need to share access, especially for social media, research tools, productivity apps, store accounts, and marketing tools, to name a few.
<a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/secure-password-sharing">Sharing credentials</a> over email, chat, or via spreadsheets exposes your company, clients, employees, and users to many cybersecurity risks. In some states and countries, sharing passwords this way is illegal!
Using a <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">password manager</a> is a secure and efficient way to store and share your company's credentials.
Here are five reasons to choose TeamPassword for your company:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Affordable - Enterprise-grade password managers are often expensive. TeamPassword provides small businesses, agencies, and startups with an affordable password management solution.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Secure - TeamPassword is an <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/what-is-password-encryption-and-how-much-is-enough">accredited secure hosting provider</a> using state-of-the-art encryption technology. We store your passwords using AES-256, trusted by US government agencies and many other organizations globally.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Efficient - Share and revoke access in TeamPassword with a single click. Quickly create passwords using our built-in <a href="https://teampassword.com/password-generator">secure password generator</a>.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Scalable - TeamPassword's plans scale with your business. Start with as few as five members and upgrade your plan as your workforce expands.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Flexible - Employees can sign into accounts using TeamPassword's Chrome, Firefox, or Safari browser extensions&mdash;catering to both Apple and Windows users.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h2>Password Management With TeamPassword</h2>
TeamPassword makes it easy and secure to share credentials with employees, clients, freelancers, and contractors. Everyone gets a separate TeamPassword login to manage access and monitor activity.
TeamPassword encrypts your passwords, making it impossible for employees (or even TeamPassword staff) to preview raw credentials.
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>Sharing Access With Groups</h3>
Add your team to TeamPassword and create groups to share access to your various accounts. If an employee, contractor, or freelancer leaves the team, simply remove them from the group&mdash;no need to worry about changing passwords!
If you're an agency working with multiple clients and accounts, one TeamPassword account is all you need! Just increase your plan accordingly.
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>Activity Logging</h3>
Keep track of TeamPassword activity, just like an enterprise password manager does. Monitor logins, password changes, credential sharing, and more to spot suspicious activity.
TeamPassword also lets you set up email notifications&mdash;helpful in monitoring sensitive accounts or specific actions, like sharing or adding new users.
&nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)</h3>
Enabling 2FA on your TeamPassword account prevents attackers from gaining access, even if they steal your employee's username and password.
TeamPassword uses the Google Authenticator app (iOS &amp; Android), requiring a six-digital randomly generated code as the second authentication step. Without the employee's device, hackers can't complete TeamPassword authentication.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h2>Start With a Free Trial</h2>
Coming up with unique username ideas isn't enough to protect your company's digital assets from attack. Protect your company's usernames and passwords with <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">TeamPassword</a>.
<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a> to test our robust and efficient sharing features with your team today!

See the best way to come up with a new username. We break down types of usernames and give you the best username ideas out there.

See the best way to come up with a new username. We break down types of usernames, why ...

Username ideas to make your logins more secure

See the best way to come up with a new username. We break down types of usernames, why secure usernames are important, and how to create them effectively!

Best types of usernames: username ideas to make your logins more secure

The state of password security is best illustrated by looking at the rise in credential stuffing attacks. By combining login software with proxy servers, hackers bombard targets with username and password combinations harvested from previous data breaches. The attacks are usually successful because people tend to re-use weak passwords between online services.
While most of these attacks focus on ecommerce and gaming websites, a similar technique known as password spraying is commonly used against smaller businesses. Hackers compile a list of usernames for a target system and test each one against a set of common passwords. Employees with weak passwords end up becoming a gateway for hackers to breach a network.
Let's take a look at how password managers can mitigate these risks and how to choose the right option for your business.
Weak passwords are at the center of many data breaches and the solution is simple &mdash; a password manager.
<h2 id="why-use-a-password-manager">Why Use a Password Manager?</h2>
Most employees are aware of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/blog/2019/03/11/how-to-manage-your-small-business-passwords/">password security best practices</a>, but most employees don't follow the rules. Of course, the problem is that creating a unique password for each service and remembering them is challenging &mdash; especially when the passwords need to be changed on a regular basis! But, it only takes one weak link to compromise an entire network.
Password managers are essentially a password book that's locked with a master key that only the employee knows. Instead of remembering 147 different passwords (the average number for a small business team), they only have to remember a single password. The password manager handles the rest by recalling passwords and even auto-filling them in browsers.
In addition to managing passwords, password managers can easily generate random 20-character passwords on demand. Even with a fast hashing algorithm like MD5, a genuine 20-character password would take an enormous amount of time to crack using brute force methods. Passwords can even be customized to meet unique password requirements for various web services.
Password managers aren't perfect. In fact, a recent audit found that several password managers exposed some passwords in a computer's memory when the apps were in "locked" mode, which could enable a hacker to access them. Despite these vulnerabilities, experts and ethical hackers agree that using a password manager is always a better bet.
<h2 id="comparing-password-managers">Comparing Password Managers</h2>
There are many different commercial and open source password managers out there. In addition, some operating systems have started to build password managers of their own. MacOS' password manager uses the laptop's password, fingerprint or facial recognition authentication methods to unlock web passwords that can be used with Safari's built-in support.
<img src="https://cdn.buttercms.com/pxarcM7iTHKVhO2WsEUq" alt="" width="610" height="227" />
<hr />
<a href="https://mailchi.mp/jungledisk.com/whats-the-best-small-business-password-manager" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download our free Small Business Password Security Checklist to determine how secure your passwords are and come up with a strategy to improve them.</a>
<hr />
The most popular commercial password managers include:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.dashlane.com/">DashLane</a>&nbsp;is one of the most popular password managers thanks to its support for Linux, ChromeOS and Microsoft Edge browsers, as well as its ability to bulk-change passwords.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.lastpass.com/">LastPass</a>&nbsp;is well-known for its feature-rich free version and extensive two-factor authentication options, while supporting a wide range of popular platforms.</li>
<li><a href="https://keepersecurity.com/">Keeper</a>&nbsp;has some of the best security when it comes to password generation and encrypted storage, as well as browser extensions and a web interface.</li>
<li><a href="https://1password.com/">1Password</a>&nbsp;provides some of the best categorization options to keep passwords organized, as well as strong form-filling capabilities that support many browsers.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.enpass.io/">Enpass</a>&nbsp;is a popular option for people looking for a free desktop option that keeps data off-line.</li>
</ul>
In addition to these paid options, there are many open source password managers available.&nbsp;<a href="https://keepass.info/">KeePass</a>&nbsp;is one of the most popular options that's licensed under the GPL. While it's not quite as user friendly as commercial password managers, it offers strong security that's backed by its open source nature that enables anyone to view the source code.
<h2 id="personal-vs-business-password-managers">Personal vs. Business Password Managers</h2>
Password managers are a great way to manage each employee's passwords, but they fall short when it comes to sharing passwords between employees. While it's possible to simply share a password and have each employee save it, the process breaks down when the password is changed and that change needs to persist across all of the employees that use it.
<hr />
<a href="https://mailchi.mp/jungledisk.com/whats-the-best-small-business-password-manager" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Don't forget to download our free Small Business Password Security Checklist to determine how secure your passwords are and come up with a strategy to improve them.</a>
<hr />
Many companies use password-protected spreadsheets to share passwords, or even worse,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/blog/2018/10/12/risks-storing-passwords-in-google-sheets/">Google Sheets</a>&nbsp;that are protected only by an obscure URL. If an attacker gains access, these spreadsheets can quickly turn into a massive data breach impacting every online service on the list. Therefore, these solutions should be avoided at all costs.
Jungle Disk's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/password-manager/">TeamPassword</a>&nbsp;enables team members to create, access and share passwords in a secure way with many of the same features as individual password managers.

<img src="https://cdn.buttercms.com/6EawHE1GTHGW1etJDoCG" alt="teampassword-groups.png" />
Some of the key features include:
<ul>
<li>Group management tools enable you to share logins and passwords with a subset of team members, external collaborators or the entire team. By using "least privilege", you can minimize the odds of a data breach.</li>
<li>Logging and reporting let you see which logins are being used, which ones aren't, and when your shared logins are being updated to quickly spot any abnormalities. You can also receive email notifications for any important actions.</li>
<li>Two-step authentication using Google Authenticator adds another layer of security. You can also generate backup codes to ensure that you're never locked out. And of course, all passwords are fully secured in a PCI/DSS compliant way.</li>
<li>A password generator enables you to quickly create secure, randomized passwords on the fly, while a browser plugin makes it easy to use the passwords with minimal effort.</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/password-manager/">Sign up for a free 14-day trial</a>&nbsp;(no credit card required) to see how TeamPassword can improve your team's credential management and minimize the odds of a data breach.
<h2 id="the-bottom-line">The Bottom Line</h2>
The dramatic rise in credential stuffing and password spraying attacks is a sign that password security is woefully inadequate. For every high-publicized data breach, there are countless other quiet data breaches impacting small businesses &mdash; and many businesses don't survive them. Password management is critical to maintaining cybersecurity.
Jungle Disk provides a comprehensive cybersecurity suite that's specifically designed for small businesses. For an affordable per employee per month price, you can access active network protection, encrypted cloud backup, password management and other critical cybersecurity infrastructure to keep your business safe without breaking the bank.
<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/get-started/">Sign up today</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/request-demo/">request a free demo</a>&nbsp;to learn more!

Most employees are aware of password security best practices, but it only takes one weak link to compromise an entire network.

The state of password security is best illustrated by looking at the rise in credential stuffing attacks. By ...

What’s the Best Small Business Password Manager?

The state of password security is best illustrated by looking at the rise in credential stuffing attacks. By combining login software with proxy servers, hackers bombard targets with username and password combinations harvested from previous data breaches. The attacks are usually successful because people tend to re-use weak passwords between online services.

Imagine that you receive an email from your work email provider requesting that you log in to review recent activity. You click on the button in the email and try to login to your account. The first login attempt oddly fails, but the second attempt works just fine and you&rsquo;re into your account.
You must have mistyped your password the first time, right?
The reality is that you may have just had your password stolen. The attacker sent an authentic-looking phishing email and the website that you initially reached as a fake. After you submitted your password, the attackers simply redirected you to the actual website to try again without knowing any better.
With these credentials in hand, the attacker can easily read through all of your work emails, reset passwords for other accounts, and wreak havoc on an enterprise network.
In this post, we will take a look at how to avoid these kinds of risks using a password manager and other best practices.
<h2 id="why-passwords-are-important">Why passwords are important</h2>
Passwords are still the default authentication mechanism for the web. Biometrics (e.g. fingerprints and facial recognition) have replaced some passwords and two-factor authentication has enhanced security, but almost every web application and most devices still require a password.
More than 80 percent of data breaches were caused by weak or stolen passwords, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ictsecuritymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017-Data-Breach-Investigations-Report.pdf">Verizon</a>. With a valid password in hand, attackers can leverage the user&rsquo;s account to gain access to their other accounts or even protected network resources. Passwords are often the weakest link in enterprise security.
Despite the importance of passwords, most people fail to develop secure passwords or even use different passwords for different accounts. Nearly one-fifth of Internet users create the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/763091/us-use-of-same-online-passwords/">same password</a>&nbsp;for most of their accounts, while the average password was&nbsp;<a href="https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/beyond-password-length-complexity/">less than 10 characters</a>&nbsp;long.
<h2 id="what-makes-a-password-secure">What makes a password secure?</h2>
The difference between a weak password and a strong password comes down to the number and predictability of characters.
<hr />
<a href="https://mailchi.mp/jungledisk.com/guide-to-training-employees-on-cybersecurity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Download our free guide to training employees on cybersecurity best practices, including password management.</a>
<hr />
The amount of time that it takes to break a password with a brute force attack depends exclusively on the number of possible combinations (e.g. password length). The password &ldquo;my awesome car is on fire&rdquo; is exponentially more difficult to crack than the password &ldquo;@y23k3!34&rdquo; for a computer.
<img src="https://cdn.buttercms.com/FLmMkxpaTfyxH4DwMq7u" alt="xckd-comic.png" />
Source: XKCD
Of course, some attackers attempt to guess passwords rather than crack them with software. They might look for public information, such as a pet&rsquo;s name, and guess the password. You shouldn&rsquo;t use passwords that contain pet&rsquo;s names, sports teams or predictable sequences for these reasons.
The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.passwordrandom.com/most-popular-passwords">most common passwords</a>&nbsp;tend to violate both of these rules &mdash; they are short and easy to guess. For example, some of the top 100 passwords include &ldquo;password&rdquo;, &ldquo;123456&rdquo;, &ldquo;qwerty&rdquo;, &ldquo;letmein&rdquo;, &ldquo;baseball&rdquo;, &ldquo;mustang&rdquo;, &ldquo;abc123&rdquo; and &ldquo;trustno1.&rdquo;
The most secure passwords are both lengthy and random &mdash; and that often means a password manager is necessary.
<h2 id="how-to-manage-your-passwords">How to manage your passwords</h2>
The problem with long random passwords is that they are difficult to remember. Even worse, the average person has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/josephbernstein/survey-says-people-have-way-too-many-passwords-to-remember">nearly 30</a>&nbsp;discrete online logins. That&rsquo;s a lot of passwords to remember &mdash; especially if you don&rsquo;t use the same password multiple times!
Apple recognized these issues and built a password manager into its Keychain for iOS and MacOS devices, as well as an auto-suggest feature for passwords into Safari. Google Chrome introduced a similar password suggestion feature, and there are ways to store credentials securely in Windows.
The problem is that these passwords only exist in personal accounts. Many companies need to share passwords with multiple users and devices. Some password managers solve these issues by sharing passwords, but it&rsquo;s important to evaluate their features and security before choosing one.
Independent Security Evaluators (ISE)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/critical-vulnerabilities-uncovered-in-popular-password-managers/">recently published</a>&nbsp;a scathing password manager assessment that found major vulnerabilities. In one case, the master password used to access a password manager was stored in PC RAM in plaintext, making it easily accessible to attackers!
<h2 id="how-teampassword-can-help">How TeamPassword can help</h2>
Most password managers are built for individuals. In some cases, password managers have expanded to target businesses, but few began with an initial focus on businesses. This means that they lack many of the features that businesses need on a day-to-day basis, such as the ability to manage access.
<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/password-manager/">TeamPassword</a>&nbsp;was developed from the ground up with a focus on small business password management. Over the past several years, we&rsquo;ve talked with business customers to find out exactly what they need and built a solution that&rsquo;s ideal for them &mdash; all with AES 256-bit encryption.
Some core features include:
<ul>
<li>
Secure password generator:&nbsp;The built-in strong password generator creates secure, randomized passwords on-the-fly for private or shared logins.
</li>
<li>
Two-factor authentication:&nbsp;Google Authenticator provides a second layer of security to access stored passwords, while backup codes ensure you&rsquo;ll never get locked out.
</li>
<li>
Group management:&nbsp;Groups lets you quickly share logins and passwords with subsets of team members, external collaborators, or the entire team.
</li>
<li>
Browser extensions:&nbsp;Chrome, Firefox, and Safari extensions make it easy to access passwords in a quick and convenient way without having to retype them.
</li>
<li>
Account logging:&nbsp;TeamPassword&rsquo;s activity logs enable administrators to see who&rsquo;s using what passwords and when shared passwords are updated.
</li>
</ul>
If you&rsquo;re interested in trying TeamPassword,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/password-manager/">sign up</a>&nbsp;here!
<h2 id="how-to-train-employees">How to train employees</h2>
Password managers are just one step of ensuring password security. After all, they don&rsquo;t prevent a compromised password from being used to access protected resources. It&rsquo;s equally important to implement the right best practices and ensure that employees are properly trained.
<hr />
<a href="https://mailchi.mp/jungledisk.com/guide-to-training-employees-on-cybersecurity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Don&rsquo;t forget to download our free guide to training employees on cybersecurity best practices, including password management.</a>
<hr />
Some best practices include:
<ul>
<li>
Train new users:&nbsp;Employees should be trained on how to properly use password managers. With TeamPassword, we automate a lot of the onboarding by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/blog/2018/08/24/teampassword-onboarding-new-employees/">walking them through</a>&nbsp;each step of the process.
</li>
<li>
Expire passwords:&nbsp;Passwords should be periodically changed in case they were unknowingly compromised. With TeamPassword, the process is a breeze since the new password can be updated organization-wide with a few clicks.
</li>
<li>
Other measures:&nbsp;All employee devices should have the proper antivirus and anti-malware installed to avoid attackers from gaining access to their computer, and therefore, the password manager.
</li>
</ul>
Employees should also be trained on how to spot and avoid viruses, malware and phishing attempts.
<h2 id="the-bottom-line">The Bottom Line</h2>
Passwords are a critical part of any company&rsquo;s cybersecurity plan. With more than 80 percent of data breaches arising from password issues, companies should invest in a password manager that both ensures that passwords are protected and makes it easy for employees to use them.
In addition, it&rsquo;s important to set up the proper protocols and training procedures to avoid common password attack vectors, such as phishing emails or malware.
If you&rsquo;re interested in trying TeamPassword with a 14-day free trial,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teampassword.com/">sign up</a>&nbsp;here!

Imagine that you receive an email from your work email provider requesting that you log in to review recent activity. You click on the butto

Imagine that you receive an email from your work email provider requesting that you log in to review ...

How to Manage Your Small Business’ Passwords

Imagine that you receive an email from your work email provider requesting that you log in to review recent activity. You click on the button in the email and try to login to your account. The first login attempt oddly fails, but the second attempt works just fine and you’re ...

Companies use a shared password manager like TeamPassword every day for mission-critical logins: Those essential tools and apps that keep the business functioning at its highest potential. But they&rsquo;re also sharing logins that make the office run smoother, improve employee morale and make it easier for their teams to collaborate and spend time (and eat) together&mdash; proving that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jungledisk.com/password-manager/">team password management</a>&nbsp;isn&rsquo;t just for the boring stuff anymore!
At Jungle Disk, our teams are currently sharing hundreds of logins and adding more every day. Here are some of the interesting logins that our teams shares,&nbsp;&lsquo;cuz all work and no play make techies a very dull group&hellip;
<ul>
<li>Fiddyment Farms (for all things pistachio)</li>
<li>B&amp;H Photo Video</li>
<li>Boingo</li>
<li>MLB.com</li>
<li>Amazon.com</li>
<li>CapitalBikeShare</li>
<li>CrateAndBarrel</li>
<li>Tiff&rsquo;s Treats</li>
<li>REI</li>
<li>Wayfair.com</li>
<li>eBay</li>
<li>1800Flowers</li>
<li>Barkbox</li>
</ul>
The average TeamPassword client manages 147 logins, but we also have agency teams that share over 1,500 logins using TeamPassword! Here are some fun logins that we see clients sharing. What &ldquo;unusual&rdquo; logins does your team share?
Food:&nbsp;A hungry team is a cranky team and coordinating in-office lunches can be a real drag for the person having to go around jotting down orders. We often see companies sharing logins to make the lunch hour rush a bit less stressful.
<ul>
<li>BlueApron</li>
<li>Chick-fil-a</li>
<li>Chipotle</li>
<li>Hello Fresh</li>
<li>AmazonFresh</li>
<li>Snack Box Subscriptions</li>
<li>Office Caterers</li>
<li>Jimmy John&rsquo;s</li>
</ul>
Sports and Fun:&nbsp;Teams that play together stay together. Companies that invest time in extracurricular activities rank higher in employee satisfaction. And a happy employee means a more productive employee. Encourage team building with non-work related logins.
<ul>
<li>Fantasy football league</li>
<li>Office pools</li>
<li>Baby and Wedding gift registries</li>
<li>WIFI credentials for connecting to drones and cameras</li>
<li>News and Reading: A well-informed employee makes better decisions. Keep employees up to date on world news, literature, and cultural happenings.</li>
<li>Economist.com</li>
<li>The New Yorker</li>
</ul>
Travel:&nbsp;Traveling for work doesn&rsquo;t have to be a burden. With all of the travel apps and services available today, booking your next work trip can be easy (and dare we say, exciting?!) Add logins that help streamline the travel process&mdash;and never miss out on those travel points.
<ul>
<li>AirBnB</li>
<li>Kayak</li>
<li>Expedia</li>
<li>Flightnetwork.com</li>
<li>AAA</li>
<li>Hostelworld</li>
<li>AirAsia</li>
<li>Lufthansa</li>
<li>Corporate apartments</li>
</ul>
Swag Vendors:&nbsp;Planning a company party? Coordinating a conference? These types of logins make it easy to store creative materials, like company logos, for when you need to print t-shirts or signage on the fly.
<ul>
<li>Vistaprint</li>
<li>Sticker Mule</li>
<li>Shutterfly</li>
<li>Office supplies: Never run out of printer ink before your presentation again!</li>
<li>Amazon</li>
<li>OfficeDepot</li>
<li>Staples</li>
<li>Adobe</li>
</ul>
Every business has a unique approach to using TeamPassword because the needs of every business are unique. Personalize your TeamPassword account to maximize organization and capitalize on efficiency.
Follow us on social media&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JungleDisk">@JungleDisk</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/teampassword">@TeamPassword</a>&nbsp;for more password management and small business cybersecurity tips!

Teams are sharing logins that make the office run smoother, improve employee morale & make it easier to collaborate and spend time together.

Companies use a shared password manager like TeamPassword every day for mission-critical logins: Those essential tools and apps ...

Unusual Logins: How Sharing Passwords Improves Team Spirit

Companies use a shared password manager like TeamPassword every day for mission-critical logins: Those essential tools and apps that keep the business functioning at its highest potential. But they’re also sharing logins that make the office run smoother, improve employee morale and make it easier for their teams to collaborate ...

A secure password management system is crucial for agencies who manage numerous clients.
<a href="https://www.teampassword.com/blog/the-groups-feature-how-it-works-why-you-need-it" rel="follow">TeamPassword&rsquo;s Groups Feature</a>&nbsp;helps agencies keep track of and share internal passwords and the dozens (or hundreds) of account passwords they manage for their clients.
<blockquote>&ldquo;The groups are the killer feature for us. Being able to have a collection of passwords for a single client and allow our contractors access to only those passwords (and the ability to kick 'em out if needed), is worth its weight in gold.&rdquo; - Travis G, Partner, <a href="https://louderthanten.com/" rel="follow">Louder Than Ten</a></blockquote>
Most companies are broken into several departments. For example, a Web Development team, Marketing team, PR team, Sales team, and Finance department. Each of these departments, or &ldquo;groups,&rdquo; is made up of several employees who all need access to job-specific sites and apps.
Grouping allows an administrator to set up a &ldquo;group&rdquo; for staff who work on specific clients or projects. While those in the finance department are the only ones with access to the payroll systems, the sales and marketing teams get exclusive access to their clients&rsquo; logins, and everyone in the company can access the lunch ordering system, travel and expense system, and the fantasy football league.
<ul>
<li>Create a separate group for each client to keep their logins in one convenient place.</li>
<li>Grant team members access only to the client accounts they&rsquo;re working on, and any internal systems they&rsquo;ll need.</li>
<li>Give and remove access at any time&mdash; perfect for short-term hires, contractors, or interns.</li>
</ul>

<img src="https://cdn.buttercms.com/DMLHbioGTryrpChTuHKX" alt="undefined" />
Once added to a Group, team members can add and edit any logins shared with them in that group, eliminating the need for administrative oversight.
If you&rsquo;re interested in trying TeamPassword with a 14-day free trial,&nbsp;<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">sign up</a>&nbsp;here!

A secure password management system is crucial for agencies who manage numerous clients. Teams will find the Groups Feature useful.

A secure password management system is crucial for agencies who manage numerous clients. TeamPassword’s Groups Feature helps agencies ...

Maximize Collaboration with TeamPassword

A secure password management system is crucial for agencies who manage numerous clients. TeamPassword’s Groups Feature helps agencies keep track of and share internal passwords and the dozens (or hundreds) of account passwords they manage for their clients. “The groups are the killer feature for us. Being able to have ...

Managing passwords shouldn't get in the way of doing good work for your clients. However, when each client has several, dozens, or hundreds of passwords to manage, it's easy to get overwhelmed. There's nothing quite so infuriating as getting held up on a big project because you can't "find the damn password." Managing passwords on a shared Google Doc can be not only messy but insecure (anyone with edit access can change those privacy settings!) And a password-protected Excel document is going to become outdated over several different versions on different people's computers. Who wants to spend more time looking at spreadsheets, anyway? 

 What do we suggest? Signing up for a team password manager app like <a href="https://www.teampassword.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">TeamPassword</a> (totally unbiased recommendation, obviously), and using one of the below methods to easily organize your passwords.
<h2>Method 1: Group passwords by client</h2>
 This one is straightforward: every time you sign a new client, you'll create a new group for that client in TeamPassword. You can add your whole client services team to that group in TeamPassword, or only add the people assigned to that client account - whatever works best for your agency. As with all of the methods covered in this post, you should also have groups for your internal passwords, just like any small business. When it works: This approach works well for clients who are particularly sensitive to who has access to their accounts. For example, if you have to create a "silo" to manage a client who competes with another client, structuring your passwords this way ensures that Pepsi's Twitter manager can't login and sabotage Coke's account. When it's not great: If you are constantly signing many new clients, then creating new password groups on a regular basis may become onerous (but we're working to streamline this process). Still, this is probably the simplest way for most agencies to manage passwords.
<h2>Method 2: Group your passwords by internal team</h2>
 If you have teams of employees that work together to service client accounts, and those employees don't bounce around from team to team often, this method could be right for you. You can just set up your password groups once, and add new client information as it comes in. When it works: If you have large client accounts, and many employees from your team service each account, this will cut down on the time it takes to organize your passwords. When it's not great: If every client has a different, intermingled mix of team members, this method will become complicated to manage.
<h2>Method 3: Add all client passwords to one large group</h2>
 With this approach, your agency can simply create one group for client passwords and add all client accounts and client services employees. When it works: This is great for smaller agencies who collaborate on almost all client accounts. When it's not great: This approach breaks down when you have a large number of clients and employees. Imagine if you stored 100+ Twitter accounts in one group and had to hunt down the correct account! Of course, TeamPassword's search features help with that, but only if you know what to search for and each password has been properly named.
<h2>The Bottom Line</h2>
 Taking the time to think through and set up a password management system will save you time and stress down the road. Once you establish a login management system that works for your marketing, PR, or creative agency, you can let the password details fade into the background, and focus on providing excellent services to your clients. <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup">Try TeamPassword now</a>, and follow @teampassword on Twitter for more management and security tips.

Managing passwords shouldn't get in the way of doing good work for your clients. However, when each client has several, dozens, or hundreds

Managing passwords shouldn't get in the way of doing good work for your clients. However, when each client ...

3 Ways to Use a Team Password Manager for Your Agency

Managing passwords shouldn't get in the way of doing good work for your clients. However, when each client has several, dozens, or hundreds of passwords to manage, it's easy to get overwhelmed. There's nothing quite so infuriating as getting held up on a big project because you can't "find the damn password."

Managing passwords on a shared Google Doc can be not only messy but insecure (anyone with edit access can change those privacy settings!) And a password-protected Excel document is going to become outdated over several different versions on different people's computers. Who wants to spend more time looking at spreadsheets, anyway?

Over the last decade, the gig economy boom has allowed professionals worldwide to switch to freelancing and build a network of international clients.&nbsp;
According to Upwork, 1 in 3 US workers engaged in freelance work during 2020. Some of the most successful freelancers earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per year through platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, and Toptal.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Does your company hire freelancers? How do you <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/should-i-share-data-with-freelancers">share passwords with freelancers</a>? TeamPassword is an affordable password management solution for small businesses, startups, and agencies to share credentials securely with team members and freelancers. <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a> today.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h2>10 Successful Freelancers</h2>
Here are ten successful freelancers and what they do. These freelancers have earned their place as experts in their given field with excellent track records&mdash;many have worked with the biggest companies in the world!
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>1. Marcos Rezende - UX designer - Canada</h3>
Marcos Rezende is a UX Designer from Ontario, Canada, with more than 13 years of experience. Marcos has worked in over 30 industry sectors for multinational organizations in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Brazil.&nbsp;
Some of Marcos' notable projects include apps for Ontario's COVID-19 dashboard, Urban Master Planning collaboration platform, and Reaction (kid's e-learning app), to name a few.&nbsp;
Marcos loves sharing his industry expertise with aspiring UX designers and regularly writes for the popular UX publication Career Foundry. Total recognizes Marcos as part of its "Top 3%" of global freelancer talent&mdash;a title given to elite freelancers in their given field.
We don't have access to Marcos' rates, but the best UX designers on Upwork earn upwards of $100 per hour. As a Toptal Top 3% freelancer, Marcos likely charges $200-$300 per hour.
<a href="https://www.marcosrezende.com/">Marcos Rezende's website</a> was nominated for the prestigious <a href="https://www.awwwards.com/sites/ux-portfolio-marcos-rezende">awwwards.</a> in 2021.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>2. Kathy Edens - Marketing Consultant / Freelance Copywriter - United States</h3>
<a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~016177d19f0624c1a7?viewMode=1">Kathy Edens is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer</a> with over $300k platform earnings! Kathy has been self-employed as a marketing consultant and freelance copywriter for almost ten years from her home in Ohio, United States.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Professional Writing and Psychology from Oregon State University, which she says "...helps me understand how to reach your target audience with words."&nbsp;
Kathy has ghost-written several non-fiction books on various topics, including social entrepreneurship, healthcare, real estate investing, and the cannabis industry, to name a few.
Kathy also writes web content, sales pages, email marketing content, case studies, white papers, brochures, press releases, and more. Kathy's rates start at $86 per hour for her writing and marketing services.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>3. Koen van Oeveren - UX designer - Netherlands</h3>
Koen van Oeveren is a freelance UI &amp; UX designer from North Brabant, Netherlands, with almost ten years of experience. Koen works with several design agencies in the Netherlands, designing apps, websites, and eCommerce experiences for many international brands.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Koen holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Communication and Multimedia Design from Avans University in the Netherlands. Koen's <a href="https://www.koenvo.com/index.html">portfolio website Koenvo</a> was nominated for a <a href="https://www.awwwards.com/sites/koenvo-ui-ux-portfolio">2021 awwwards. Award</a>.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h3>4. Pascal Strasche - Product / UX designer - Germany</h3>
Pascal Strasche is a product and UX designer with more than ten years of design experience from Germany. He holds a Master of Arts in Interaction Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design, both from HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts.
For almost a year over 2020/2021, Pascal worked as the sole product designer to design Con Cubo's SaaS tool that helps complex organizations visualize and manage teams. He's also worked with German steel giant XOM Materials to find product solutions to digitalize&nbsp;Germany's steel industry.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
In 2019, Pascal founded Product Design Resources, a growing archive of 800+ design resources, weekly updated for the design community.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>5. Paul Hunkin - Developer - New Zealand</h3>
Paul Hunkin is a freelance software consultant and developer from Tauranga, New Zealand, but currently living in Portugal.&nbsp;
Paul has over ten years of experience as a software developer with an impressive work history, including Google, NASA, InfoSys, and the Chinese aerospace industry leader COMAC.
He's worked with several early-stage startups designing everything from high-performance big-data systems to complex web applications to 3D rendering engines. He's also built a lot of the foundational code for independent games on Android.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Paul is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer with over $400k in platform earnings. His rates start at $120 per hour for software development. <a href="https://paulh.consulting/">Check out Paul's website</a> for more about his impressive portfolio and work history.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>6. Jana Galat - Writer / Brand Strategist - Canada</h3>
Jana Galat is a freelance copywriter and brand strategist from Ontario, Canada. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Management and Organizational Studies from King's University College and an Honors in Business Administration from Western University.
Jana has extensive experience writing landing pages, email campaigns, social media ads, and print materials and says, "I am obsessed with creating copy that sells..."
After several years of professional work experience, Jana went freelance in 2019 and has quickly built a reputation as a <a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01bfa17a48301876dd">Top Rated Upwork Freelancer</a> with over $70k in platform earnings. Jana's rates start at $100 per hour for copywriting and brand consulting.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>7. Kate H. - Logo Designer / Branding Expert - United States</h3>
Kate is a freelance professional logo designer and branding expert from Maryland, United States. Kate&nbsp;ran her own green wedding brand which she sold to mywedding.com in 2014, allowing her to focus on helping small&nbsp;businesses figure out what they want (and who they are) and translate that into design.
She holds a Master's degree in Environmental Management from Yale School of The Environmental, and a J.D. in environmental law from Pace Law School.&nbsp;
Kate's skillset includes redesigning and updating material to make it easier to understand, building a consistent brand from a simple starting point like a logo, and creating unique logos that guarantee results.
Kate is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer, and her rates start at $225 per hour. You can find out more about Kate on her <a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~013ce73876c1c18126" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Upwork profile</a>.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>8. Xhensila Zemblaku - Art Director - Canada</h3>
Xhensila Zemblaku is a freelance art director, UX/UI designer, and illustrator from Markham, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ryerson University with almost ten years of experience.
Xhensila has been a freelancer for most of her professional career and earned over <a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01a08d1fcc6ea8fbcb">$400k on Upwork</a>, completed over 150 jobs, and 4,663 hours!&nbsp;
Xhensila's work includes typography, print design, UX/UI design, web, and mobile design. She's a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer currently charging $200 per hour for various creative gigs.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>9. Tanya Litvinova - UX/UI Designer - United States</h3>
Tanya Litvinova is a freelance UX/UI designer from New York City, United States. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Design / Communication Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Tanya specializes in product, mobile, and web design as well as user experience flow, research, and validation.
"I have a passion to make the complex simple, shape behavior, design, plan, and strategize. Aiming for the best user experience, all the while balancing the needs of business and technology to create engaging, habit-forming digital products."
Tanya has worked with Fortune 100 &amp; Fortune 500 companies and successfully delivered business-transforming data-driven analytics, responsive BI dashboards, enterprise web apps, and management systems. Some of Tanya's notable clients include KOCH Industries, BlackRock Financial, BCG Group, and FireEye, to name a few.
<a href="https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~0165035041b26e96df">Tanya is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer</a> with more than $200k platform earnings. Her current rate starts at $162.50 per hour.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<h3>10. Guangming Lang - Data Scientist - United States</h3>
Guangming Lang is a freelance data scientist from Michigan, United States. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from New College of Florida and a Master of Science in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan. Guangming has also completed several Coursera courses in data science and machine learning.
Guangming has been a freelancer since 2013 and has worked across several industries, including fintech, trading, medicine, biotech, advertising, and HR.&nbsp;
Guangming is a Top Rated Upwork Freelancer with over $400k in platform earnings. He's completed 216 jobs on Upwork totaling 3,805 hours! Guangming's current rates start at $200 per hour.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
<h2>Secure Freelancer Workflows With TeamPassword</h2>
No matter how talented or reputable the freelancers and contractors you hire, your company must use secure workflows to protect your digital assets.
Freelancers often need access to shared accounts and tools. Using a <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">password manager</a> is the first step to securing these accounts and platforms. You can also use a password manager to share credentials with employees, clients, and other stakeholders to ensure you never expose raw passwords via email, spreadsheets, chat apps, and other non-secure methods.
<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">TeamPassword</a> lets you create groups to share access with only those who need it. When they're done, revoke access with a single click. No need to change passwords every time someone leaves the team.
If you do need to change a password, TeamPassword's built-in <a href="https://teampassword.com/password-generator">password generator</a> lets you create secure passwords between 12-32 characters using numbers, letters (uppercase/lowercase), and symbols.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Ready to onboard clients and freelancers securely with TeamPassword's robust <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">password management solution</a>? <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a free trial</a> to secure your company's digital assets today!

Here are ten successful freelancers and what they do. These freelancers have earned their place as experts in their given field.

Here are ten successful freelancers and what they do. These freelancers have earned their place as experts in ...

10 extremely successful freelancers and what they do

Here are ten successful freelancers and what they do. These freelancers have earned their place as experts in their given field with excellent track records—many have worked with the biggest companies in the world!

Password encryption is essential to store user credentials stored in a database securely. Without password encryption, anyone accessing a user database on a company's servers (including hackers) could easily view any stored passwords.
Even a strong 32-character password created using a <a href="https://teampassword.com/password-generator">secure password generator</a> is useless without password-encryption! If someone can read your password on a server, they can use it simply by copy/pasting it&mdash;no matter how long or complicated the password might be!
Encryption scrambles your password before saving it on the server. So, if someone hacks the server, instead of finding password123, they find a random series of letters and numbers.
In this article, we're going to explore the world of password encryption, why <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/tips-and-tricks-to-create-a-strong-password">strong passwords matter</a>, and how you can practice better password management!
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;
<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">TeamPassword</a> is the password management solution for small businesses! Create, store, and share login credentials safely with employees, contractors, and clients. <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a> today!
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;
<h2>Understanding Password Encryption</h2>
To explain password encryption effectively, we must first grasp the language. Several terms might be unfamiliar, so here is a quick intro to password encryption terminology.
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Key: Used to lock and unlock passwords using a random string of bits. You get private and public keys that crypt and decrypt data differently, but we won't get too deep in the weeds with keys!</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Bits: A logical state with one of two possible values, including 1/0, true/false, yes/no, or on/off as typical examples.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Block (block cipher): A deterministic algorithm operating on fixed-length groups of bits, called blocks.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hash function: The algorithm that uses the key to create password encryption and decryption. A hash function is essentially a piece of code that runs every time someone saves a password or logs into an application.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hash: A random series of numbers and letters representing your password. The hash function uses your hash instead of the raw password for authentication.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Salt: Additional letters and numbers appended to the hash</li>
</ul>
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;
<h2>How Does Password Encryption Work?</h2>
When you save a new password, a hash function creates a hash version and saves that on the server.&nbsp;
Every time you log in using your password, the hash function recreates the hash to see if it matches what's stored. If the hashes match, the algorithm passes the authentication and logs you in.&nbsp;
For example:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Original password: Pa$$w0rd123</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Hashed password: 6AF1CE202340​FE71BDB914AD5357​E33A6982A63B</li>
</ul>
While this might seem secure, simple hashed passwords aren't hack-proof.
The hash function only creates a unique hash for each password, not each user. So, if multiple users have the password, Pa$$w0rd123, the hash will be exactly the same.
To overcome this encryption vulnerability, engineers salt passwords so each hash is unique, even if the passwords are identical.
<h3>How Salt Works</h3>
A salt appends a unique value of 8 bytes (16 characters) to the password before the hash function creates a hash. This way, even identical passwords are unique before the hash function.
For example:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Two identical passwords: Pa$$w0rd123</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Salt value one: E1F53135E559C253</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Salt value two: 84B03D034B409D4E</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Password one before hash: Pa$$w0rd123E1F53135E559C253</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Password two before hash: Pa$$w0rd12384B03D034B409D4E</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Password one hashed value (SHA256): 72AE25495A7981​C40622D49F9A52E4F15​65C90F048F59027BD9​C8C8900D5C3D8</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Password two hashed value (SHA256): B4B6603ABC670​967E99C7E7F1389E40​CD16E78AD38EB1468E​C2AA1E62B8BED3A</li>
</ul>
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;
<h2>5 Common Password Encryption Methods</h2>
<h3>1. Data Encryption Standard (DES)</h3>
While applications no longer use Data Encryption Standard (DES), it's important to mention this password encryption method because of its history and influence on more secure modern standards.
IBM developed DES as a 56-bit encryption technology in the early 1970s. The NSA adopted and improved DES before it was approved worldwide as the encryption standard.
However, since the late 70s, hackers have been able to break DES encrypted passwords. In 1999, ethical hackers managed to break a DES key in under 24 hours.&nbsp;
To make DES more secure, engineers created Triple DES and later Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which we still use today.
<h3>2. Triple DES</h3>
Triple DES uses three 56-bit keys (blocks) to create 168-bit encryption (some security experts argue that Triple DES is only 112 bits strong). Although Triple-DES is slowly being phased out, many financial institutions still use it to encrypt ATM PINs.
<h3>3. Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)</h3>
AES is the new encryption standard&mdash;trusted by the United States Government and many other prominent organizations globally. At 128 bits, AES is sufficiently secure, but most organizations prefer heavy-duty 256-bit encryption.
At <a href="https://teampassword.com/security">TeamPassword</a>, we use 256-bit encryption to store passwords, ensuring the highest levels of security for our clients. We're also a <a href="https://teampassword.com/security">secure hosting provider</a> holding multiple security accreditations.
Hackers can only break an AES encrypted password through a brute-force attack&mdash;trying password combinations to find the right one.
To counter brute-force attacks, applications will lock an account after a certain number of attempts or use tools like Google's reCAPTURE.
<h3>4. Blowfish</h3>
American cryptographer, Bruce Schneier, designed Blowfish in 1993 as an antidote to the weak DES encryption. Blowfish uses a 64-bit block and variable key length of 32 to 448 bits.
Although Blowfish is more robust than its DES predecessor, the 64-bit block is still vulnerable to attacks, most commonly birthday attacks&mdash;a cryptographic attack that exploits the mathematics behind the algorithm.
To solve Blowfish vulnerabilities, engineers created Twofish in 1998 (128-bit blocks with 256-bit keys) and Threefish in 2008 (256, 516, 1024-bit blocks with 256, 516, 1024-bit keys).
<h3>5. Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA)</h3>
RSA is one of the oldest and widely used to transfer data securely. The encryption works with two keys, two large prime numbers, and an additional auxiliary value.
Due to the complicated encrypting and decrypting process, there is no known method for breaking RSA encryption.&nbsp;
Although widely used for transferring data, RSA is slow and not suitable for password encryption.
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;
<h2>Why Strong Passwords Matter</h2>
Password encryption can only prevent criminals from viewing saved credentials stored on a server&mdash;but cannot prevent hackers from guessing weak/commonly used passwords. If you <a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/colonial-pipeline-ransomware-attack-dont-reuse-passwords">reuse the same password for multiple accounts</a>, this also puts you at risk!
Encryption is most effective when users create robust, unique passwords for every account. For example, a random 32-character password with letters, numbers, and special characters hashed and salted is near impossible to guess or decode, even using a computer!
In another scenario, let's assume you have a strong 32-character password, but you use it for every account. If hackers manage to steal that password, they have access to every account using the same credentials! Your strong password is effectively useless.
<h3>Improving Your Password Management</h3>
Now that you understand password encryption and the associated vulnerabilities, you can see why strong passwords are essential.
Effective password management is crucial to protect yourself against cyberattacks or in the highly likely event of a data breach where hackers steal your credentials.
Criminals are after the low-hanging fruit&mdash;people who use weak passwords!
5 tips for creating stronger passwords:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Create strong passwords for every account. The easiest way to do this is using a password generator. <a href="https://teampassword.com/password-generator">TeamPassword has a free password generator</a> anyone can use to create passwords from 12-32 characters using uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters. We recommend creating passwords as long as the application will allow.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Never create passwords shorter than eight characters, with 12 being our recommended minimum.&nbsp;</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Never reuse the same password for multiple accounts.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Never create passwords with your name, family member's names, or pet's names. With social media, this information is freely available. Criminals can add those names to algorithms for brute-force attacks.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Don't store passwords in digital notepads or spreadsheets. We recommend using a <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">password manager like TeamPassword</a> to create and store your credentials.</li>
</ol>
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;
<h2>Why You Need a Password Manager like TeamPassword</h2>
We have so many accounts these days; it's almost impossible to create unique, memorable, secure passwords for each one. A password manager solves this problem.
Instead of remembering the credentials for every account, you only need to memorize the one to log into your password manager.&nbsp;
TeamPassword keeps all of your credentials safely stored and encrypted, so you never have to memorize a password again. Instead of entering your credentials, you use one of TeamPassword's browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, and Safari) to log into accounts.
<h3>Built for Teams</h3>
TeamPassword's best feature is its ability to share credentials with team members securely. Instead of sharing passwords, you provide access through TeamPassword.&nbsp;
Employees <a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">use TeamPassword</a> to log in, meaning you never share raw passwords&mdash;no more worrying about unauthorized access or sharing.
You can create groups in TeamPassword to share access with employees, clients, contractors, and freelancers. When someone no longer needs access, remove them from the group with a single click. No need to change passwords every time someone leaves a project!
<h3>Built-In Password Generator</h3>
TeamPassword features a built-in secure password manager so you can create robust passwords for every account. TeamPassword also ensures you never reuse the same credentials so that you won't fall victim to credential stuffing attacks!
With a built-in password generator, you can change passwords regularly, and TeamPassword will update the new credentials for all users!
<h3>Monitor Login Activity</h3>
TeamPassword's activity log keeps track of every action across all of your accounts&mdash;logins, password changes, new team members, sharing access, and more.
You can also set up email notifications for all TeamPassword actions so that you can react fast to any suspicious activity.
<h3>Get Your Free TeamPassword Trial</h3>
Password encryption is not enough to protect your business from password vulnerabilities! You need a robust password manager like TeamPassword to create, store, and share credentials securely.
&rlm;&rlm;&lrm; &lrm;
<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial">Sign up for a 14-day free trial</a> and let TeamPassword secure your company's digital assets.

Password encryption is the number one component of password security. TeamPassword encrypts passwords with state-of-the-art technology to keep passwords safe.

Password encryption is the number one component of password security. TeamPassword encrypts passwords with state-of-the-art technology to keep ...

What is password encryption and how much is enough?

So you think hackers have stolen your password? You're not the only one. 
Perhaps you've noticed strange activity on your email account or frequent pop-ups on your computer. Perhaps it's just a hunch. 
But how can you know&nbsp;for sure?
There are many warning signs that you've been the victim of a data hack:
<ul>
<li>Your device is slower than normal.</li>
<li>You use more data than normal.</li>
<li>Videos take longer to load.</li>
<li>You received an email notification about a password change you didn't make.</li>
<li>An online account no longer accepts your password.</li>
</ul>
However, hackers can steal your passwords and identity&nbsp;without you ever knowing. That's why it's so difficult to tell if you're the victim of a hack.
This guide will help you work out if hackers have stolen your information and tell you how to stop it from happening again.&nbsp;
Prevent hackers from stealing your data by incorporating TeamPassword into your tech stack. This password manager for teams comes with a range of security features like two-step verification and password encryption.&nbsp;<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up for a free trial</a>&nbsp;today.&nbsp;

<h2>Have I Been Hacked? How Do I Know?</h2>
There are various ways to tell whether hackers have access to your information:
<ul>
<li>Look for unusual activity on your account. This activity includes logins to your social media accounts from unfamiliar locations or mass messages sent from your email account.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Look for security emails from account providers that warn about failed login attempts or password changes you didn't make.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
<li>Look for changes in performance on the devices, apps, and websites you use. For example, see if videos take longer to buffer than normal.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Look at your browser's password manager (if you use one) and check that nobody has changed these credentials.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
All the above can be a guessing game. You might have a feeling that you're the victim of a hack but don't know for sure. 
Checking a stolen password list like "Have I Been Pwned" clears up some of the confusion. This tool searches across multiple data breaches &mdash; when hackers take stolen passwords and usernames and post them online &mdash; to see if cybercriminals have compromised your personal information. 
Here's how to use this stolen password list:
<ol>
<li>Enter your email address on the main page.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Click "pwned."</li>
<li>The website will search thousands of databases to see if hackers have stolen your personal information.</li>
<li>If you receive the "Oh no &ndash; Pwned!" message, it means hackers have posted sensitive information associated with your email address (passwords, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) somewhere online.</li>
<li>If you receive the "Good news &ndash; no pwnage found!" message, it means the website could not find your information on the internet.&nbsp;</li>
</ol>
Note: Just because the website can't find your data on the internet, it doesn't mean hackers haven't compromised your personal information.
Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/password-manager-for-small-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Password Manager for Small Businesses</a>

<h2>Which Passwords Did Hackers Steal?</h2>
Establish which passwords hackers stole in a data breach so you can take quick action. Websites like "Have I Been Pwned"&nbsp;won't&nbsp;tell you which passwords are at risk. You'll only learn whether hackers have compromised the data associated with a particular email address. 
Note: Sometimes, hackers might have access to your email address and other personal information but not your password. It's hard to know for sure.&nbsp;
If hackers have access to your data, it's a good idea to change&nbsp;all passwords&nbsp;associated with the compromised email address. If you use your email address for several online accounts, change the passwords for these services. Updating these passwords might take you a while, and remembering the new passwords leads to additional problems. (Keep reading to find a solution.)
Here are some other tips:
<ul>
<li>When choosing new passwords, use combinations of lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Passwords that use all these elements are stronger than those that don't.</li>
<li>Don't write your passwords down because this increases the risk of identity theft.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
<li>Don't tell anyone your new passwords.</li>
</ul>
Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/the-most-secure-way-to-share-passwords" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Most Secure Way to Share Passwords</a>.

<h2>How Common Is a Data Hack?</h2>
More common than you think. Hackers were responsible for more than 4,000 attacks every day in 2020, and the total number of compromised records exceeded 37 billion. That's a 141% increase from 2019. Much of this compromised data appears on the dark web, where cybercriminals use it to facilitate illegal activities such as identity theft and money laundering.&nbsp;
If you have been the subject of a data hack, you are not alone. However, it's important to act quickly to prevent hackers from accessing your personal or financial accounts.&nbsp;
There are other types of cybercrime to consider. Cybercriminals use techniques like phishing, where they impersonate people online and trick victims into handing over their personal information. Phishing now accounts for more than 80% of all cybersecurity incidents, and criminals steal $17,700 every minute in these attacks.&nbsp;

<h2>What Kind of Information Do Hackers Steal?</h2>
Hackers steal all kinds of personal and financial information:
<ul>
<li>Names</li>
<li>Email addresses</li>
<li>Usernames</li>
<li>Passwords</li>
<li>Addresses</li>
<li>Phone numbers</li>
<li>Bank account details</li>
<li>Credit card numbers</li>
<li>Social Security numbers</li>
<li>Insurance information&nbsp;</li>
<li>IRS information</li>
<li>Photos</li>
<li>Private message</li>
<li>SMS messages</li>
</ul>
Nothing is off-limits for hackers, and these criminals go to great lengths to steal your data. Once they have access to the information above, hackers can transfer money from your bank accounts, use your identity to apply for financing, and damage your credit file.&nbsp;
Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://teampassword.com/blog/the-scariest-data-breaches-of-all-time" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Scariest Data Breaches of All Time</a>.
TeamPassword is the best password manager for teams. Features include two-step verification, password encryption, easy password sharing, and more.&nbsp;<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get a free trial now</a>&nbsp;and learn how TeamPassword keeps you safe online.&nbsp;

<h2>Have I Been Hacked? How to Stay Safe.</h2>
There are several ways to improve online security and prevent hackers from accessing your personal information:
<ul>
<li>Use the latest security software and apps when using devices and browsing the internet.</li>
<li>Carry out regular risk assessments where you evaluate your security software.</li>
<li>Back up personal data to a reputable cloud service instead of keeping it on your device.&nbsp;</li>
<li>Don't share personal information with other people.</li>
<li>Create a security management strategy for your organization and share it with all team members.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Using a password manager is another way to stay safe online. The best ones encrypt your online passwords so hackers can't access these credentials, and you can keep passwords in a secure cloud-based vault and not have to remember them. There are various password managers online, including free ones available through most internet browsers, but not all tools are the same.&nbsp;
If you work alongside a team, consider TeamPassword. It's the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.teampassword.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">password manager for teams</a>&nbsp;that require world-class security and performance. This all-in-one password solution helps teams like yours store, manage, and share passwords in the safest way possible.&nbsp;

<h2>How Can TeamPassword Help?</h2>
TeamPassword prevents hackers from stealing your organization's most sensitive data with an incredible range of password management features. Enterprises of all sizes use TeamPassword to manage passwords, including tech startups, digital marketing agencies, creative agencies, and software and development teams.
Here are some&nbsp;<a href="https://teampassword.com/features" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TeamPassword features</a>&nbsp;that prevent situations involving a stolen password:
<ul>
<li>Random password generation that creates unique passwords for websites.</li>
<li>Two-step password verification.</li>
<li>Activity and logging tools so you can discover who has access to password management features.</li>
<li>Secure encryption technology.</li>
<li>Email notifications about password management actions.</li>
<li>Passwords stored securely in one place. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Final Word</h2>
If you're looking for the answer to the question, "Have I been hacked?" it's difficult to know for sure. Preventing hackers from compromising your data in the first place provides a better resolution. TeamPassword lets you store and manage passwords in a secure environment and minimize the effects of a stolen password so you can avoid hackers stealing your data and continue to collaborate on team projects.&nbsp;
With features like password encryption, two-step authentication, and random password generation, TeamPassword is the best password management solution for teams that want to improve online security.&nbsp;<a href="https://app.teampassword.com/dashboard#signup/testimonial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up for a free trial</a>&nbsp;now.

Have I been hacked? Here's how to check if you have and learn how to stop hackers from stealing your data. | TeamPassword Blog

Have I been hacked? Here's how to check if you have and learn how to stop hackers from ...

TeamPassword Blog

Browse our carefully created articles about Information Security, Password Management, Product Information, and Modern Business, all written with your team's safety and success in mind.

Most popular articles

Password Management

February 23, 2023 ∙ 10 min read

Best types of usernames: username ideas to make your logins more secure

10 extremely successful freelancers and what they do

What is password encryption and how much is enough?

Have I Been Hacked? How to Know for Sure.

Business

October 21, 2019 ∙ 6 min read

What’s the Best Small Business Password Manager?

Business

March 11, 2019 ∙ 6 min read

How to Manage Your Small Business’ Passwords

Product Information

November 9, 2018 ∙ 2 min read

Unusual Logins: How Sharing Passwords Improves Team Spirit

Product Information

October 29, 2018 ∙ 2 min read

Maximize Collaboration with TeamPassword

Product Information

March 12, 2016 ∙ 4 min read

3 Ways to Use a Team Password Manager for Your Agency

The Password Manager for Teams

Product

Support

Channels

Legal