12.9.16 36

5 Security Tips For Bloggers

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of LastPass. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I started blogging I really didn’t think much about keeping my blog secure. I mean up until about four years ago I had the same password for nearly every website! My bank, my credit card, my blog, you name it! Yes, that was a dumb choice. But really who thought much about their blog password when they started their blog (especially seven years ago). Thankfully I married an internet security guru who whipped my butt into shape on that front. Today I am partnering with LastPass to share 5 security tips for bloggers that, TRUST ME you will be glad you know!

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5 Security Tips For Bloggers

1. Use a Password Manager

Like LastPass! I can’t tell you how many times LastPass has saved me. Especially if you are someone like me who now wants to make sure that every aspect of your blog is safe and secure. This doesn’t just mean your WordPress, Blogger, or SquareSpace login. This means your Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Etsy, Buffer, Hootsuite, BoardBooster, and so one and so forth. Basically anything and everything somewhat related to your blog. But really, why stop at your blog? Your checking account, credit card, even your Jcrew.com account should have a secure password. So what does LastPass do? Well not only does it store all of your passwords so you only have to remember ONE password, but it also generates secure passwords for you (you pick the number of characters, what kind of characters to use, etc) and it reminds you when you need to update a password. So if you haven’t changed your Gmail password in a year, it will show you the last time it was changed so you can change it. You can also use LastPass to store “secure notes” such as credit card account info, bank account info, insurance info, even your alarm company info. Basically everything you need to remember in one place safely guarded by one password. A great thing about LastPass is that you can have it on your computer, your phone, and your tablet! You can easily access everything from any device! So not only is your blog secure, but your entire life is secure.

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2. Never Reuse a password on another website

So yeah I’m the girl who used a dumb password like puppy35 for every single website. OK that wasn’t the exact password, but it may as well have been. You guys you CAN’T use the same password twice. Not even if it’s a great password. If you used the same password for Gmail and for say Facebook and someone figured it out you are screwed. That’s why LastPass is so great. They will help you so you don’t ever have to use the same password or even remember the passwords you do have. With all these security breaches happening recently, it’s really important to never reuse a password.

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3. Use Two-Factor Authentication

The idea behind two-factor authentication is providing two different forms of proving you are actually you. It’s usually something you know (your password) followed by something you have (your phone, for example). You can setup two-factor authentication on many websites such as Gmail and then you have a 6-digit random number assigned to your account that changes every 60 seconds. You can use LastPass Authenticator to manage this. You can set it up for many things such as Facebook, Gmail, or even LastPass itself!

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4. Review what websites/apps have access to your accounts

You know how you go to comment on a blog and say they use Disqus, well you need to login and you can use Facebook, or Twitter etc. You can use those for Buffer or Hootsuite and to comment on WordPress blogs. All day long you are allowing apps to have access to your account. Depending on the settings, those websites can have access to your emails, post things, or even have full control to your account. So it’s smart every now and then (once a month) to go to your settings and review any third party app. Just another way to stay secure!

5. Keep your phone and computer up-to-date

I am the WORST about updating my computer. I am on it so much and the thought of sometimes having to have it update for 30 minutes or an hour just never seems convenient. You know what else isn’t convenient? Your stuff being hacked. Take the time to update your phone and computer when it says you need to. Trust me, the longer you wait the worse it gets!

If you want to try out LastPass Get LastPass for Free and you will not regret it!

Some of these things may seem “inconvenient” but remember short term inconvenience is better than potential disaster in the long run.

If you enjoyed this post, I would love if you saved/heart it on Bloglovin’ and check out my other blog advice posts!

What are your best security tips for bloggers? Share them with us below! 

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Leave a Comment

36 Comments

  1. Great tips! I recently started using Last Pass and so far, I’m loving it. It makes things easier and I feel way safer now…

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  2. Monica wrote:

    It’s amazing how much of our lives are on the internet and need to be kept secure. A friend had her blog hacked and that was such an ordeal. It’s so important to keep all of our financial, personal and professional details safe. Thanks so much for the tip, I’m always looking for a better system to keep my info secure. I’ll check out Last Pass.

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  3. These are great tips! I am so thankful for a two step authentication on Twitter! For some reason it was the one that was always being hacked. With the two step process, even if they had guessed my password, they would need my phone to get the second part. Since then, I have changed my password to a more difficult one, but regardless I feel protected having more than one step!

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  4. Rachel G wrote:

    I could really use some sort of password manager or organization system. I am way past due as far as figuring out something like that instead of always guessing my passwords!

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  5. Great tips! I had a client of mine nudge me in the direction of last pass so she could share all her account’s passwords with me without really sending them to me. It’s been a great tool so far!

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  6. Oh my, there are two on this list that I am definitely guilty of. Thank you for sharing these tips. Adding this to my new year organization.

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  7. Courtney wrote:

    I was guilty of having the same password for everything, then a few years ago, my account was compromised on one of the sites and it caused me all sorts of problems. Great advice!

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  8. Trish wrote:

    Thank you! These are some great tips. I am using a password manager and am careful about not using the same passwords everywhere … but I really need to look into two-factor authentication. I had never heard of that before this post! I’m so glad you posted this.

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  9. Rachel wrote:

    Great tips! I get nervous about using something to store all of my passwords, but this sounds like it’s safe enough!

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  10. I’m guilty of not putting a lot of thought into securing my blog or other sites but this post is a great reminder as to why it’s so important! I’ll have to check out Last Pass!

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  11. Lindsay wrote:

    Thanks for sharing. Definitely some decisions to make going forward. For some reason, I’ve always been weary about employing a password manager, thinking that it’s actually a bad thing since ALL of your life’s passwords would be stored in one location. I guess that’s a pro as well – at least they’re stored in one spot. But man, can you imagine if a password manager was compromised? Maybe I need to have more faith and just trust.

    I currently have a password protected word doc at work for all my passwords here because I cannot possibly remember them all and with having to have one capital, one character, one number and all that she-bang, it makes it hard to remember which password is which.

    Thanks for sharing hun. 🙂 Have a great weekend!

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  12. Anya wrote:

    I was just looking into making my website and apps more secure. My blog is growing fast, and I really appreciate it! Thank you for sharing.

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  13. Chrissy wrote:

    Really great tips and things I used to not even think about either. Now I use an app for everything after my PayPal account being hacked a few years ago and feel so much safer!

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  14. Dude this is a really awesome post. I totally don’t think about these type of things but now I’m going to be way more mindful! Thanks!

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  15. These tips are so great! I like to use 2-step authentication when available. It is so important to keep things safe. Now-a-days you never know who is stealing your information. Thanks for this info!

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  16. This is really handy! I need to keep better track of my passwords because it seems like I’m ALWAYS forgetting them! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  17. Nellwyn wrote:

    I’m definitely going to have to check out LastPass, it sounds super helpful! I’m also terrible at updating my phone and computer regularly.. thanks for the reminder to do that this weekend!

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  18. Jeeyoung wrote:

    I definitely need to up my security game. Last pass sounds like the perfect resolution!

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  19. A gigantic YES to never using the same password twice! It’s super frustrating but I have a super duper top secret methodology for creating tons of passwords AND remembering them.

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  20. I am totally guilty of using the same password for everything. When you have SO many accounts (even the background ones that you really don’t go to as often), it’s just impossible to remember them all and I have zero patience for spending an hour trying to figure it out lol And even using the same one, I STILL get locked out of my accounts sometimes. It’s incredibly frustrating.

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  21. Alix Maza wrote:

    I’m so guilty of using the same password for multiple accounts! I do however, always enable two-factor authentication.

    Alix | http://www.apintsizedlife.com

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  22. Greta wrote:

    My husband is an IT auditor and has so many horror stories about security. I’ll have to look into LastPass too!

    Greta | http://www.gretahollar.com

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  23. Oh! I’m going to have to check this out! I hate to think that there may be some ways that I’m letting my security slide!

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  24. Mistle wrote:

    I’ve heard of LastPass before but never used it! This was helpful in explaining exactly what it does!! I will def be looking in to this!!!

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  25. Crystal wrote:

    I need to be more mindful of security. You’re right about giving up 30 minutes and that feeling like eternity when there’s stuff to be done. It’s worth it though.

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  26. really great tips! We all work so hard on our blogs that we need to keep them safe!

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  27. OMG! I need to do this! Thanks for the great tips!

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  28. Password manager is imperative and so is the two step verification. Even google products allow two steps notification. Thank you for all these great security tips.

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  29. I have never actually thought about this before. I need to download this asap!

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  30. Tretre Mac wrote:

    Awesome tips. Security is definitely important.

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  31. This is really helpful

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  32. I had a security breach on my blog during the spring. I’ve learned a lot since then and now have a reliable security company and firewall monitoring my site.

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  33. CourtneyLynne wrote:

    Omg so many awesome tips! I try my hardest to not use the same passwords for things. You just never know what can happy security wise these days

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  34. Carrie wrote:

    These are all such great tips! I probably need to rethink my passwords as a lot of them are the exact same one. Yikes… Going to work on that.

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  35. I’ve used a similar product – Dashlane – and I’m SO with ya…can never go back. Once you realize how simple and easy it is to mix up passwords, never again will I use the same one twice!

    Coming Up Roses

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  36. I use Keeper Vault which is free as a mobile app. If you want to sync devices it cost money. You can also get a family plan which allows up to 5 members. You can share credentials which is great for the family-Netflix, HULU, Amazon, etc… Thanks for this article. I’m in Silicon Valley so all this cyber stuff is top of mind out here. 🙂

    Chris

    Published 10.21.18
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