Modern life moves fast, and so does cybercrime. Between managing your social media, online shopping accounts, streaming services and the dozen apps that make city life functional, you’re probably using the same handful of passwords across way too many accounts. It’s convenient until someone drains your bank account or locks you out of everything you need.

The solution isn’t trying harder to remember complex passwords. It’s accepting that human memory has limits and using tools designed specifically for this problem.

Why passwords need (at least) 12 characters 

Password length is the single most important differentiator between a weak and a strong password. A six-character password, even with letters, numbers and symbols, can be cracked in seconds by modern computers. Add just a few more characters and the time required jumps dramatically.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency recommends that people use passwords that are long and unique for each account. A password generator 12 characters long creates combinations that would take years to crack through brute force methods, assuming the attacker even bothers trying when easier targets exist everywhere.

This isn’t about paranoia. It’s about making yourself marginally more difficult to hack than the millions of people still using “NewYork2024!” or their pet’s name with a few numbers. Criminals follow the path of least resistance, and proper passwords ensure that path doesn’t run through your accounts.

What your passwords are actually protecting

Your digital life contains more valuable information than you probably realise. Banking apps, PayPal, Venmo and stored payment methods on shopping sites represent direct access to your money. Email accounts are the key to everything else since they receive password reset links.

Social media accounts might not seem valuable, but compromised profiles get used to scam your friends and family. Someone posing as you can request money from contacts, spread misinformation or damage your reputation in ways that take months to repair.

Then there’s the personal information. Travel bookings reveal when you’ll be away from home. Shopping accounts contain your address and purchase history. Photo storage holds years of memories. Health apps track sensitive medical information. All of this becomes accessible when passwords are weak or reused across multiple sites.

What makes passwords secure

Randomness is what matters. Humans are terrible at creating random passwords because we think in patterns. We use words we can remember, dates that matter to us and symbols in predictable positions. All of this makes passwords easier to crack.

A proper password generator creates genuinely random combinations that don’t follow human logic. “K9$mPv2#nL4@” means nothing and follows no pattern, which is exactly the point. It’s not trying to be memorable because you’re not going to remember it anyway.

These tools handle the generation and storage automatically. When you create an account or need to change a password, the generator creates something secure, saves it and fills it in whenever you need it. You remember one master password that protects everything else.

The convenience factor

Living in New York means you’re already comfortable with digital solutions for daily problems. Password generators are just another tool in that ecosystem, no more complicated than the apps you use for everything from restaurant reservations to subway navigation.

The time investment is minimal. Setting up takes perhaps an hour if you’re methodical about it, and the ongoing maintenance is essentially zero. Compare that to the time you’d spend recovering from even a minor security breach, never mind a serious one.

Most password managers work seamlessly across devices, which matters when you’re constantly switching between your laptop at home, your phone whilst out and your tablet when travelling. Your passwords sync automatically and are available wherever you need them.

Making the switch

Start with your most critical accounts and work outward. Email and banking first, then any accounts with payment information stored, followed by social media and streaming services. Less important accounts can be updated gradually as you naturally log into them.

Password generators typically identify which existing passwords are weak or reused across sites. This takes the guesswork out of knowing where to focus your efforts and lets you prioritise based on actual vulnerability rather than guessing.

The goal isn’t achieving perfect security, which doesn’t exist. It’s about being marginally more secure than the average person, which is enough to make criminals move on to easier targets. In a city of millions, you don’t need to be the most secure person in New York. You just need to not be the easiest mark.

Your accounts deserve better protection than variations of the same password you’ve been using since 2011. Sorting it out takes less time than you’d spend scrolling through Instagram on your commute, and the peace of mind is worth considerably more.