Secure Passwords

Weak passwords are a massive security risk.

Cyber criminals are getting smarter than ever before, cracking one password could mean that they gain access to all of your sensitive business data, finances and could even result in them gaining access and control to your business’ entire system.

Using passwords such as ‘Password123’ means that you are practically giving them the keys to your business, these criminals use automated tools to guess passwords which means that they are able to try out millions of combinations in seconds. Having a compromised password can lead to a lot of serious issues such as;

• Financial loss
• Identity theft
• Damaged reputation
• Customers loss of trust
• Data breaches

So how do you create secure passwords?

Think of your password as a secret recipe where only you should know the ingredients. A strong password should be:

• 14 or more characters long. The longer the better!
• Include upper and lower case letters
• Include numbers and special characters (e.g. !$%&)
• Do not contain any common words or guessable information.

Passphrases are also a really good way of creating a secure lock. A short, random sentence that only you would understand is a much more secure password than a single, easily guessable word. An example of a passphrase would be ‘coffee&cl0ud5AreGreat9’.This is much harder to crack but fairly easy to remember.

There are a few common mistakes that a lot of people make. Ensure you steer clear of these:

• Using personal information such as your name, business name or even your birthday.
• Reusing the same passwords across multiple accounts
• Using simple sequences such as ‘12345’ or ‘abcd’
• Storing passwords on notes or writing them in a notebook

If remembering a lot of passwords sounds impossible then there is another option. Password managers are a great and secure way to store passwords, they can also help you create new passwords and some will even auto-fill your login details for you. With a password manager you only need to remember your master password, the rest are encrypted and stored securely which reduces the risk of data breaches.

MFA is a secondary layer of security as even the strongest of passwords isn’t fool proof. Multi Factor Authentication requires a second form of verification such as a one time passcode that is sent to your phone of generated in an authenticator app.

By making password security a priority you can reduce the chances of your business being targeted by cyber criminals. Creating healthy password habits for you and your staff should be of the utmost importance.

If you would like any help or advice about cyber security, get in touch today!

Here is our previous blog article about Malvertising

Here is an infographic about passwords from the National Cyber Security Centre