In today’s digital world, having a password for everything is a necessary inconvenience—too significant to overlook as a critical part of comprehensive security. Protecting your passwords means you’re protecting your data, which in turn keeps your most essential identifiers—Social Security numbers, credit card information, home addresses, email accounts, and phone numbers—safe.
Passwords are often the first target for hackers seeking to break into vulnerable computers and devices. Verizon’s 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report found that more than 50% of confirmed data breaches involved weak, default, or stolen passwords.
And whether it’s through keylogging viruses installed on individual computers, phishing attempts, or brute-force attacks that use computing power to run billions of combinations of numbers and letters in seconds, it’s not a matter of if hackers will figure out your password, but when.
- Creating unique combinations that feature long strings of characters is crucial. Consider mixing upper- and lower-case numbers, letters, and symbols—think “p*sSw%rd#33” instead of “password33,” “MyD0gSp0t!” instead of “My Dog Spot,” or random words and symbols (use @ instead of a, 3 instead of E, * instead of i, or L instead of 1) instead of known phrases and characters.
- This one is as straightforward as it comes: if you use the same password for multiple accounts and one gets hacked, then all of the other logins (including all of their associated data) are at risk.
- Two-factor authentication requires you to enter your regular password and a unique code sent via text or email. This one’s easy: if you can activate it, do so now. A new website, TurnOn2FA.com, includes step-by-step instructions for enabling this free feature on a variety of sites, apps, and accounts.
- Anytime there’s a major password hack, Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Twitter, and other popular services leap into action to protect their users. But the best kind of security is proactive, so check your social media, email, and banking accounts periodically to ensure everything is in working order. If you only use Facebook, Twitter, or that old email account once a month, check those first.
- Speaking of a proactive approach, maintenance and monitoring services like CMIT Marathon come with built-in antivirus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware software that can stop malicious password-hacking viruses in their tracks. This includes patches and fixes for Java, Adobe, Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Office.
Comprehensive security with multiple layers is possible—especially with an experienced IT provider and a mobile-optimized, cloud-based password management solution designed specifically for the business community on your side.
In today’s online world, password security is paramount. That’s why CMIT Solutions takes the safety of your data seriously. To protect yourself and those you work with, strong passwords (and even stronger password management solutions) should always be used. If you’re unsure about the security of your passwords and want to keep your information safe, contact CMIT Solutions today.
