As you may have heard, LastPass was recently hacked. If you use this app, the company has recommended that you change your master password. Even though few passwords were actually stolen, if someone were to gain access to your master password all of the passwords stored via LastPass could be compromised. Need to change your LastPass password? Here’s how to do it.

How to Change Your LastPass Password

The steps to changing your LastPass password are simple enough - here’s what you need to do.

-Log into your LastPass account. If you cannot log in, make sure to notify the company.
-Go to the left hand side of the screen and choose ‘settings.’
-On the Settings page, find the area labeled ‘Login Credentials.’
-Choose the ‘Change Master Password’ option.
-You will have to type in your old password, change it to a new one, and then repeat type your new password.
-This should successfully reset your password.

Even if your account was not hacked, make sure to change your master password as soon as possible. This is your best line of defence against the recent hacks, and against future hacks. If you have the opportunity, changing your master password at least once per year is recommended - even if you are using a presumed safe system like LastPass.

How to Pick a Super Secure Password

The point of an app like LastPass is to make all of the passwords stored in the system as safe as possible. But, your LastPass account (or any other account for that matter) is only as safe as your master password. If you have chosen a master password that is not that secure, it may not be too difficult for a hacker to tap into your account. So, the question is: how can you make sure that your master password is hack-proof?

First, choose an alphanumeric combination. A lot of people simply use something like the name of a pet, and that might seem like a good idea, but numbers and letters are a lot harder to hack into than a password that solely consists of just letter or just numbers. So, add some numbers to the end of that master password for extra security. You can also play around with the case that you use when creating a password. For example: PAssWorD1369 is much safer than password1369. Try adding some upper and lower case letters to your password.

Another good trick is to use underscores or dashes. Some people find success in using an entire phrase as well. The idea here is to make that passwords as tricky as possible, so that hackers can’t guess at what your password is. So skip your address or your phone number, and play with letters and dashes and numbers that will be hard for anyone to guess (just make sure that you remember what that master password is!).

A tricky combination of letters and numbers will ensure that a hacker cannot tap into your master password, and this will prevent someone from securing all of the passwords that your master password protects.