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How to protect your passwords from hackers for good

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If a hacker cracks your password, your entire identity can be compromised in an instant. (Photo: Getty)

How many times a day do you log into password-protected accounts like online banking, Netflix, or even Facebook? Do you ever wonder whether the passwords themselves are secure?

Guess what, they’re probably not — all a hacker needs to do is crack the code, and your entire identity can be compromised in an instant. When hackers gain access to your devices and accounts, they can wreak all kinds of havoc, from opening up new credit card accounts to draining existing bank accounts.

The power of secure passwords

One of the easiest ways for hackers to get their hands on your sensitive information is by stealing your passwords. The FTC says that creating “long and strong” passwords is crucial to your online security.

Not only should passwords be complex, says the FTC, but they should be unique to each site—in other words, stop using the same old password for every account. But it’s practically impossible to create airtight, individual passwords for all of your online accounts and manage to remember them all, right?

That’s where a great password manager comes into play, like LastPass Premium, part of the ID Protection by AOL plan. Adam Levin, cyber security expert and founder of CyberScout, tells Yahoo Life. Levin that a password manager should be your secret weapon against fraud, especially if you’re kind of lazy about passwords.

Shop it: Try LastPass Premium, part of the ID Protection by AOL Plan, for 30 days risk-free with a money back guarantee, subscriptions.aol.com

LastPass Premium, the industry’s leading password manager

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Keep all your passwords stored and protected in one central location with a password manager, such as LastPass Premium. (Photo: Getty)

LastPass Premium is the password manager that’s going to change the entire game for you.

Install LastPass Premium, and the software will create passwords for every single account you’re signed up to—from your credit card accounts to your email, social media, streaming services, or any account that retains your payment information. It will then store the passwords securely across all of your devices.

Shop it: Try LastPass Premium, part of the ID Protection by AOL Plan, for 30 days risk-free with a money back guarantee, subscriptions.aol.com

A closer look at LastPass Premium

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Stay secure with LastPass Premium. (Photo: Getty)

Here’s how LastPass Premium works: Let’s say you’re creating a password to obtain sensitive medical records online. The password manager will create a complex, rock-solid password that hackers couldn’t possibly touch. It will inventory the password and automatically log you in from your laptop, phone, tablet—whatever you use—every time you need to access the site.

If you’d rather create your own password for a website, you’re free to do that. LastPass Premium will remember those, too. “The only thing you have to remember is the password to your password manager,” as Levin says.

Equifax says that once you do create your passwords, remember to change them “as frequently as you can reasonably manage,” especially now.

Now’s your chance to empower yourself with LastPass Premium, and give yourself online peace of mind. Sign up, get your free 30 days, and breathe a sigh of relief knowing your passwords are protected inside a virtual fortress—and so is your identity.

Shop it: Try LastPass Premium, part of the ID Protection by AOL Plan, for 30 days risk-free with a money back guarantee subscriptions.aol.com