 TITLE: Four Ways to Reduce the Risk of Identity Theft CONTENT: 4\\. Create Strong Passwords\n---------------------------\nSociety is so integrated with technology that it's easy to have scores of online accounts. As a result, it can be tempting to create one easy-to-remember password and use it everywhere.\nUnfortunately, scammers have gotten good at guessing passwords using publicly available information and social engineering—for example, asking you about your pets, children, other family members and more. And once they have your password for one website, they'll have it for all the other sites you use it on.\nTo help minimize the damage, create a unique, strong password for every online account. The strongest passwords are long, random strings of letters, numbers and symbols, and it would be impossible to memorize each one. For that reason, you could use a password manager such as LastPass or 1Password to securely store all of them in a place that's easily accessible when you need them.\nIf a website or app offers it, set up two-factor authentication. This will require you to provide a second piece of information to verify your identity. It may require you to use an authenticator app with a unique number that changes every 30 seconds or have a code sent to your email or phone.\nUsing this process takes a little more time every time you log in or change account details, but it provides valuable protection against people who want to do you harm. END