Password Security for Cyber Protection

Implementing Proper Password Security For Better Cyber Protection

Picture this: it’s the end of the month, and you sit down at your computer to check your bank account balance, there’s only one thing, you forgot your password. What is it again? qwertyuiop1? No, qwertyuiop15? Eh, I’m not sure; I’ll just reset it.

Almost 40% of people deal with issues related to forgotten passwords on a monthly basis (Entrepreneur). This doesn’t only include bank accounts, but with social media and email passwords.

I’m not the only person who struggles to remember all his passwords, and I know I can’t be the only one changing my password every week because I can’t remember if I capitalized the first letter or not. Needless to say, my passwords are lacking in complexity in part because I never realized how risky using a common password can be. Cyber criminals have endless ways to use your private information. Opening fraudulent bank accounts, shopping online, applying for loans, and identity theft are only some of the most common uses of your data. The worst part is, I feel secure after changing my password from Football3! to Football4!. This change is almost completely insignificant to a hacker and most definitely isn’t going to prevent a hacker from getting into one of my accounts.

As a result of my new cyber security paranoia, here are some tips for better password management:

• Make sure your password is at least 12 characters; it’s better to be safe than sorry. When it comes down to it, adding four characters to your password can be the difference between security and losing your account to cyber criminals.
  • An almost random combo of letters, numbers, and symbols is your best bet for creating a password that hackers will struggle to crack. The longer your password is, the better.
• Stay away from obvious dictionary words and combinations of dictionary words. Any word on its own is bad. Any combination of a few words, especially if they’re obvious, is also bad. For example, “house” is a terrible password. “Red House” is also very bad.
  • In other words, stay away from any passwords you think someone else may be using. Think of something original, and don’t use the passwords “123456” or “password.”
• Another easy way to keep your passwords secure is to keep them private, as in not sharing them with your coworkers, friends, or relatives.
  • Almost 50% of Americans have shared their passwords with another person. A significant part of these shared passwords occurs on streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu. Why is that important you ask? According to the Ponemon Institute, the average person uses the same password for approximately five accounts. Make sure to remember when you’re giving your boy or girlfriend your Netflix password, you may also be giving him or her access to much more.
• Change your passwords every month if you want to be safe from cyber-attacks. This effort may sound hard to the average person who changes passwords once a year or not at all. But putting the extra time aside to change your passwords is a great way to ensure your cyber security.
• Multi-factor authentication is a safety method that grants access to an account after presenting two pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism. By using two-factor authentication, you can protect yourself against almost all cyber attacks; two-factor authentication is one of the most effective ways to combat cyber criminals.
• Keep your passwords safe and organized by using a password management application; there are plenty of apps that offer free password help. If you’re old fashioned, write passwords in a notebook and keep them in a secure location. Write dates next to your passwords to help you keep track of when to change them.

Final Thoughts

People as a whole have too many passwords: and what comes of all of them? Serious fatigue, to the point where resetting our passwords, is easier than remembering them. But you have to be careful in resetting your password, though it may make you feel safer to change your password every month or two, this still allows hackers a long period of time to get into your account if they’ve already targeted your account. The most important step to having proper password security is making the password long, with almost random strings of letters, numbers, and symbols.

As a result, people like me do dumb things, creating a few password variations to help an untenable situation. Or we do even dumber things, like use passwords such as “password” or “123456.” Or we create a “base” password and add a variation for each site. We know it’s stupid, but we’re driven to these solutions because we are lazy/our memories can’t remember all those passwords. So do yourself a favor and follow those tips to increase your password security.

 

If you have any further questions, contact a Risk Advisor or call 914-357-8444 today!