Between all that talk of Family Sharing for Apple’s new “Plus” services, and the fact that I finally set up my house’s shared Netflix account on my TV the other day, I think a lot about how to minimise the financial impact of my technological needs.

And that always leads to a conversation with my roommates where I gauge how much they might want to contribute to services that I really want (or vice versa).

Most of us have morning rituals, and yours probably involves a computer at some point. And while it’s not that hard to press the power button, wait for your system to boot up, and then type in your Windows password to log into your desktop, those are a lot of time-consuming steps that morning you has to sit and do. If you’re lucky, you can automate this entire process.

We’re taking on a question that I’ve been curious about for some time — not that I’m never not curious about your questions, but this one is a topic that’s bounced around my head a bit, because I am lazy and I hate fussing with password management whenever possible.

“Another day, another migraine” is a wonderful morning mantra from Spongebob’s Squidward Q. Tentacles, which you can also apply to your account security on a near-weekly basis. It feels as though there is always some new data breach or unfortunate leak you have to deal with, and this week's exercise is the big one.

The biggest one, actually: 1,160,253,228 combinations of emails and passwords, affecting 773 million unique email addresses in total.

As the year winds down, now is a great time to get your digital life in order. From organising your online photos to refreshing your accounts with new, secure passwords or finally cleaning up your browser bookmarks; there’s a lot for you to tackle before 2019 hits.

Password-recovery questions have been a part of Windows 10 for more than a year now, but you’ll never know they exist if you sign into your operating system using a Microsoft account. Use a local account when you’re first installing Windows, however, and you’ll be prompted to create three security questions that you can use to reset your password and log into your account—should you ever forget your credentials.

I remember all the hubbub when Apple first announced Face ID back in September of 2017. There were countless articles and thought pieces criticising Apple for the terrible experience its new security technique was about to create. Instead of just pressing on your iPhone’s Home button, a natural task as you pull your iPhone out of your pants pocket, jacket, or bag, you’d have to pull your device up to eye level, stare at it, and then go about using it as normal.

It’s been a while since I’ve had to type in some stupid answer to a made-up question when creating an account on a new service. You know what I’m talking about: Forget your password, and you can regain access to your account by typing in the name of your first pet (Mr Mrglglrm), your favourite sports team (Saskatoon Sirens), or the street you grew up on (Third Street).

In this week’s tech-support column, I’m taking on an uncomfortable issue: How to regain control of your accounts from a not-so-kind ex. I’m hoping your former loved one isn’t a complete psychopath — or, at least, isn’t a psychopath that has access to your accounts — but it’s an all-too-familiar story. You live with someone, you share your hopes and your dreams, and they find a way to get into your accounts. (That, or you share login credentials, which is a pretty bad idea, too.)

There are a number of different ways to unlock an Android smartphone or tablet. In fact, you probably have a favourite one you’ve been using for as long as you’ve owned your device. We’re all creatures of habit, but you might want to consider other unlocking methods that might be more secure, convenient, or expedient.

Mac: While most people set up their Macs so all they need is a password, or a finger-press, to authenticate into their machines, the computer your company gives you might be a little more strict. Instead of letting you save your login name or display a list of your system’s users to pick, for example, you might have to actually type in your account name and password.

Mac: It's been a few years since we've seen AgileBits release a major update to its killer password management app, 1Password, which is why everyone's so excited about last week's debut of 1Password 7. This app should pretty much be a household name at this point, as it's one of the major password managers we recommend to create and store super-secure passwords and passphrases.

Uppercase, lowercase, number, symbol - it's the mantra repeated over and over by IT admins when they set password rules. Throw in the requirement to change those passwords every 30 days or so, and not repeat an old password or even have characters in the same place over some arbitrary cycle and you suddenly have a complex set of rules that makes life really hard for users. And the guy who penned many of these rules, Bill Burr from NIST, says he screwed up.

LastPass is one of the most prominent password managers around. It's extremely convenient but if it were hacked, it would be quite the pain in the arse for users. In a blog post, the company has warned that a major exploit has been discovered and outlined what action users should take immediately.

Smartphone operating systems generally offer four ways for users to protect their devices: pin codes, patterns, passwords and fingerprint verification. But which one is the most effective when it comes to warding off unwanted individuals from accessing your smartphone? Let's find out.

"123456" is still the most common password that is used online. That's despite numerous security experts warning against using simple passwords.

Make it stop. We have some advice for people who are too lazy to think up secure passwords.

May 5th is global World Password Day which aims to promote good password habits. According to Intel, Australians have an average of 26 different personal and business-related accounts that use passwords. That's a lot of passwords to remember. The vendor has some tips on how stay on top of your password security.