While working in the corporate world you’d be so surprised on how many users write down their passwords and then post-note it onto their computers! Amazing, and when IT dept asks to take it down they wonder what is wrong with that? True and never ending story.
Well Co-Workers, Visitors, Cleaning Staff… anyone with the desire to cause you or the organization harm can snap a picture and use it to break into the system. Perhaps not to directly cause harm to you but most often disgruntle actions towards the company, all while perfoming actions using your username. As you can imagine the consequences arising from Stolen or Leaked passwords can cause a major disruption to everyone.
I admit, keeping track of passwords is tedious. And none the less impossible to keep track of, especially when you combine work and personal accounts. Did you know that a simple 8 character password can be brute hacked in less than 2 minutes? Yep. So the most important step to prevent issues (besides not writing it down) is by using proper PASSWORD SECURITY HYGIENE:
Use Strong Password Complexity; 16-20 characters or more, random upper and lower case including digits and symbols.
Make sure all your passwords are Unique
Keep your Software up to date
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Use a Password Manager– and apply all the Tips above to break-proof the Master Password
Need to share a password? Don’t send it via text or email, some Password Manager applications, such as LastPass you can share safely
Utimately, practicing proper password habits is a first line of defense to help protect your personal information and prevent unathorized access to your account. With the rise of cyberattacks, identity theft and data breaches; having a strong password is the most basic step you have full control of – so best bet is to make it difficult to break through.
MY CLIENTS ASK…
What Password Manager do you recommend?
There are many applications out in the web. But I personally use and recommend LastPass. It saves your credentials encrypted.
You can install on all your laptop and mobile devices.
Autofills your passwords, so no need to remember them all
