We live in a password driven world. On your phone alone you may have multiple sign-ins and passwords for multiple systems, Apps or accounts. It could be tempting to use an easy password so you can easily access all of your accounts. Why is this a bad idea? How can you “beef up†your passwords to protect your personal and business data?
Splashdata has again released its annual list of the most popular (and therefore worst passwords) found in over two million leaked passwords during 2015. If your password is on the list, then Splashdata said you are continuing to put yourself and your business “at risk for hacking and identity theft by using weak, easily guessable passwords.â€
Protection Techniques
PC Online reminds us that the old adage when it comes to passwords is that, “Passwords are like underwear. You should change them often. Don’t share them. Don’t leave them out for others to see (no sticky notes!). They should be mysterious. In other words, make your password a total mystery to others.â€
A strong password includes:
- At least eight characters (Usually up to 20)
- One or more of each of the following: lower-case letters, upper-case letters, a number and a punctuation mark.
- Lookalike characters to protect against password glimpses. Examples:O as in Oscar and the number 0. Lower-case l and upper-case I. The letter S and the $ sign.
Weak passwords have common attributes such as:
- Words you can find in the dictionary.
- Passwords shown as “example strong passwords.”
- Personal information, such as names and birth dates.
- Keyboard patterns, like qwerty or 12345. Particularly avoid sequences of numbers in order.
- Common acronyms.
- All one type of character – such as all numbers, all upper-case letters, all lower-case letters, etc.
- Repeating characters, such as mmmm3333.
- The same password you use for another application.
Categorised in: Computer Support, Password, Security