Back to School: Dashlane Releases List of Top 10 Most Popular Kids' Websites with Safe Password Practices

NEW YORK, July 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dashlane has released a list of the top ten websites with safe password practices, just in time to help parents navigate online safety risks during the busy back-to-school season.

"Password security is a serious issue for families as passwords are the seatbelts of the digital world," said Emmanuel Schalit, CEO of Dashlane. "Weak passwords leave your kids' personal information vulnerable. It's important that parents teach kids how to create strong passwords, and follow safe practices, such as using a password manager to store and share them. Fortunately, popular websites like Apple, Gmail, and Facebook also prioritize safety by requiring strong passwords and following best practices that keep users' identities secure."

The Dashlane team examined the password requirements for popular websites, including minimum required password length, complexity of required passwords, and whether or not sites employ safeguards, such as sending account creation emails and providing on-screen password strength assessments. The top 10 sites in the study were:

1. Apple
2. Snapchat
3. Gmail
4. Yahoo
5. Tumblr
6. Vimeo
7. AOL
8. Facebook
9. Netflix
10. Twitter

Apple was the top performing site as it deploys a host of measures to ensure its users have strong passwords, such requiring them to create passwords that have a minimum length of eight and contain a mix of alpha-numeric characters. Apple also requires birthdate verification, which means that children under the age of 13 can't use fake birthdays in account creation.

While the social media platform often makes headlines for its questionable content, teens using Snapchat are at least likely to have a relatively strong password. The app requires password be at least eight characters long and does not accept the most commonly used passwords, such as passord or 12345678. This bucks the industry trend as many sites only require a four-character password.

The two most important elements of a strong password are its length and alpha-numeric complexity. Longer passwords that include letters, numbers, and symbols are more secure. Dashlane recommends everyone adopt the following good password hygiene procedures:

1. Use a different password for every account. This ensures that even if one account is compromised or hacked your other accounts will not be exposed as they are protected by a different password.
2. Use a strong password. At the minimum, your password should be eight characters, a random combination of letters, numbers, and symbols, and also contain a mix of upper and lower-case letters. While this may seem complicated, Dashlane's Password Generator makes the process simple.
3. Change your passwords regularly. Some breaches take years to discover, so the only way to ensure your accounts aren't vulnerable to old breaches is to change passwords regularly. Dashlane's Password Changer lets users change passwords on hundreds of the world's top websites.

"Passwords are the first line of defense in protecting your family's online life," said Schalit. "The back-to-school season is a great time to change passwords, and take a look at the sites your kids are frequenting to make sure they're keeping identifying information secure."

About Dashlane
Dashlane makes identity and checkouts simple with its password manager and secure digital wallet app. Dashlane allows its users to securely manage passwords, credit cards, IDs, and other important information via advanced encryption and local storage. Dashlane has helped over 5 million users manage and secure their digital identity. The app is available on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, and has won critical acclaim from top publications, including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Dashlane is free to use on one device, and Dashlane Premium costs $39.99/year to sync between an unlimited number of devices. Dashlane was founded by Bernard Liautaud and co-founders Alexis Fogel, Guillaume Maron, and Jean Guillou. The company has offices in New York City and Paris and has received $52.5 million in funding from TransUnion, Rho Ventures, FirstMark Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Learn more at Dashlane.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/back-to-school-dashlane-releases-list-of-top-10-most-popular-kids-websites-with-safe-password-practices-300305641.html

SOURCE Dashlane

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