We all know we have to protect all our digital appliances with passwords to protect ourselves against cyber attacks. However, with so many things needing specific passwords, it is all too easy to forget some of them. 

In fact, a report called the Future of Identity revealed more than half (51 per cent) of respondents reset a password at least every month due to forgetting it. It also showed that 15 per cent do so at least once a week. 

Therefore, it is no surprise that companies providing IT services are regularly called upon to recover lost passwords, particularly if they are difficult to restart or the data they are being used to protect is very sensitive or confidential. 

According to the report, 74 per cent of people choose biometrics more than half of the time when giving the option between this or creating your own password. One-third of those who answered said they would opt for biometrics all the time. 

This includes fingerprints, facial features, voice recognition or iris scans instead of passwords consisting of words, symbols and letters. 

Biometrics are considered to be the safer option, as they are individual to the user and are more difficult to hack. 

While they provide an extra layer of security, if the biometrics do not work, the person trying to access the account is still offered the chance to input a password. Therefore, if this is not a strong one, the hacker can still access the account even if it is protected by biometrics. 

It is, therefore, important to have a password that is difficult to guess, even if you use fingerprint or facial recognition on the account most of the time. 

A strong password needs to be at least 12 characters long, with a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. 

You could also use a password manager tool to store the different passwords, as it is important to use new ones for each account. Alternatively, if you really want to keep them protected, write them down and lock up the paper in a safe.