Unique Passwords Are Important: How to Create a Strong Password

Summary: This 3-minute article explores the importance of creating strong passwords for your platforms and devices. Passwords are the front line of cyber security. Contact DIGIGUARD CYBER SECURITY at 833-33-CYBER (833-332-9237) or visit www.DIGIGUARDsecurity.com to schedule a cyber risk analysis and discuss innovative solutions to ensure you have strong password protection and the best possible small business cyber security.

Creating Passwords

Passwords have been used for a long time and have become part of our day-to-day lives. In the cyber security world, passwords are the front line of defense against cyberattacks. Unfortunately, most small to midsized businesses (and home users) do not pay enough attention to creating strong, unique and hard-to-guess passwords. Even many IT companies and power users who know better are often not as diligent as they should be in the creation of passwords. Here are some of the most common password mistakes:

• Using Family Names and Personal Information – The time for using and reusing passwords containing pet names, birthdays, family names and anniversaries is long gone. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have devised and improved many malicious programs to guess those kinds of passwords.
• Using One Password for Everything – Using one or two passwords for everything might make it easier for you to remember them, but when used across multiple platforms, it makes it much easier for hackers to guess them. Also, if “one password fits all,” a successful cyberthief will not just be gaining access to one of your platforms. Instead, you will have given them an “all-access pass” for all your private data.
• Changing Passwords Too Often and Resurrecting Old Passwords – Some studies indicate frequent password changes and recycling old passwords make it much easier for hacking software to guess them. Ironically, many users reuse old passwords that have previously been breached.
• Storing Lists of Passwords on Unsecured Devices – Don’t do it! Keeping digital lists of passwords on your connected devices is the digital equivalent of leaving the front door of your home open, with a map of where robbers can find all your valuables and keys to your car. Enough said.

Unique passwords are not as challenging to create as you might think. There are over 1,000,000 words in the English language, so there is a myriad of possible combinations. Beyond word combinations, adding numbers and special characters are additional ways of creating a strong password.

How Can You Remember a Password?

As we stated above, using different passwords for different platforms is essential. However, besides creating and writing down all your passwords on a piece of paper and hiding it, IT has developed a very beneficial tool: Password Managers.

Password Managers are apps for keeping track of what passwords you use for multiple websites and other platforms. They can also generate robust, random multi-character passwords that will be more secure than those you create on your own. However, selecting the best password manager for you requires researching the options. Unfortunately, many do not offer enough cyber security to protect your passwords which is unacceptable. Password managers are intended to make your business or personal computer use more secure and efficient. The goal is to free the user from creating and remembering many multi-character passwords.

Case Study

A small cardboard box manufacturer in the Bronx, New York, was a family-owned business that started from the ground up. As time went on, the company began to have too many different passwords for different business functions. One of the owner’s sons was more tech-savvy than anyone else, so they doubled as the in-house IT expert. Unfortunately, he was not aware of the importance of password management. Also, the company did not focus enough on employee training for password creation and storage and other cyber security priorities.

Employees were not following the basics of password security and many were using the same passwords for everything. The catastrophic result was that one employee, who used simple passwords over and over again, got hacked. Once the hacker got into their accounts, the door was opened for a company-wide attack created by that one employee. As a result, the company’s system went down and it took cyber security experts almost a week to clean and repair the system. During that time, the company could only operate at 30% of its usual output.

DIGIGUARD’s Innovative Solutions For SMBs

As your home or SMB grows, expands its network and adds more platforms and devices such as Bluetooth devices, smart controls, wireless access and remote access, your network vulnerability grows, too. DIGIGUARD specializes in proactive cyber security and network security and has a wide array of solutions for home users and small to midsized businesses to defend against cyberattacks and other network data breaches. They are cyber security experts who can ensure your confidential personal, business and financial data have the best protection possible. Furthermore, they can help establish cyber security best practices and provide employee training so they do not inadvertently open your company to a cyberattack. That training will work in tandem with the rest of your cyber protections so that everyone knows what they must do to prevent a data breach and precisely what to do in the event of a cyberattack. DIGIGUARD’s services in cyber security are up-to-the-minute and cost-effective. They will enable SMB owners to concentrate on operating their businesses without fear of a data breach crippling their operations.

Contact DIGIGUARD CYBER SECURITY at 833-33-CYBER (833-332-9237) www.DIGIGUARDsecurity.com to discuss protecting your passwords and the best cyber protection for your home or SMB’s private data before you face a deadly cyberattack.