Good strong passwords are one of the cornerstones to securing digital assets, such as your website or electronic mail (email). Stolen or weak passwords are still the most common reason for data breaches, so organizations should carefully examine password security policies and password management.
Some recommendations
- Create a strong, long passphrase
- Apply password encryption
- Implement Two-Factor authentication
- Don’t use dictionary Words
- Use different passwords for every account
- Proper employee password policy
- Avoid writing out passwords in visible locations (such as on post-it notes)
Strong passwords make it significantly more difficult for hackers to crack and break into systems. Strong passwords are considered over eight characters in length and made up of both upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Encryption provides additional protection for passwords, even if they are stolen by cyber-criminals. The best practice is to implement end-to-end encryption that is non-reversible. In this way, you can protect passwords in transit over the network. City & District takes care of encrypting all password for our clients.
Sophisticated hackers have programs that search through tens of thousands of dictionary words. Avoid dictionary words to help prevent your business from being a victim of a dictionary attack program. Best practice is to use a different password for any and every account you have with a supplier. Otherwise, if one your accounts is hacked, other accounts with the same password can easily be compromised as well.
Sadly, it is not uncommon for former, disgruntled employees to become your business’ worse enemy. Make it a common practice to change passwords when an employee leaves so that former employees cannot hack into your business accounts and wreak havoc. Also, make sure to provide proper training, guidelines, and policies regarding passwords for employees to follow. Passwords are personal and should not be shared. Avoid storing passwords either digitally or on paper, as this information can be stolen by those with malicious motives.
Be Vigilant About Safety
No matter how strong your passwords are and how meticulous you are about security, passwords won’t be safe if a hacker’s spy program is monitoring what you enter on your keyboard. Make it as difficult as possible for cyber-criminals to get your credentials by using up-to-date anti-malware and vulnerability management solutions, which enable you to harden your systems to prevent and mitigate weaknesses that might allowing intruders to enter and/or move around your environment.
Feel free to reach out to us for guidance regarding your business and client's digital security.
