Easy Technology Tips and Tricks from Computer Systems Support & Design
Creating Strong Passwords to Protect you from Cyber Criminals
In today's technologically driven business marketplace one of most often overlooked points of vulnerability to your business and personal security is the strength or weakness of the passwords when logging into: your computer network, email provider, online banking, accounting or payroll applications. To underestimate the importance of strong passwords is to leave the door wide open to identity theft and corporate piracy. Your passwords must be a robust combination of all the characters that are available, must be unique for different applications and must not be a word commonly found in any dictionaries, in any language.
As Fairfield County's leading Tech Support Provider we've encountered end users frequently who have been conditioned to use weak passwords. For many people the first password we ever needed was for our ATM cards. If this is the case we were limited to the numerals on the keypad 0-9. That simply will not cut it anymore. Malicious brute force password cracking programs can run through all of the possible combinations in a matter of seconds, literally. The same types of programs can run through all of the words in the dictionary, plus most common names, in multiple languages even spelled backwards, in a matter of minutes. You should not have the same password for all of your accounts; if that one password was to get compromised then all of your sensitive private data would be at risk - not a good thing!
How do you create strong passwords that you can actually remember, without writing them down?
During our daily tech support work we often suggest to end users to come up with a phrase that is meaningfull and unique to them, and therefore likely to remember. For example: “My company produces widgets and everybody should have them” or "Wow cars are my favorites”
Use the first or last letter of each word to create a string or characters, from the example above:“My company produces widgets and everybody should have them” I could come up with: “Mcpwaesht” or “yyssdydem”
Replace one or more of the characters with its alternate character on your keyboard, a special character in the middle or beginning as in: @Mcpwaesht^
Add a suffix or prefix to make it unique to each application that you will use it for.
- For my Yahoo email I could use: Y@Mcpwaesht^
- For my Chase bank account I could use: C@Mcpwaesht^
Make sure that your each unique string of characters is at least eight characters long.
Pasword Best Practices
Now that you have a strong passwords, that last thing you need to worry about is using them wisely.
- Do not write them down on a sticky note and put them under your keyboard or behind your monitor. Do not store them in the file system of your computer.
- Do not use your passwords on computers that have open access to the general public, such as those found in Internet cafes, airports or mall kiosks.
- Do not enter personal information such as your user names and passwords on unsecured websites.
- Do make sure that the computer terminals that you use your passwords on have up to date anti-spyware and anti-virus applications.
Call today (203) 349-8047 Ext. 211 to help you implement a strong password policy with your employees in Faifield County, CT.
