How to Make Bad Passwords Better

Every time you log into an account, you have to enter a password. And we know exactly what you’re thinking: why? Good password hygiene is important, especially in high-profile environments like your business. Passwords play a crucial role in securing your network, so you should know how to build better passwords—if not for your own sake, then for your business.

Passwords are the First Line of Defense

The reality of password security is that the password is really just the beginning of account security. They do the majority of the protecting, and if your business wants to keep the frontline secure, you need complex passwords. Otherwise, you’re putting your business at risk for no real reason.

Effective Password Creation Practices

Too many people use short, easy-to-guess, insecure passwords. Instead of your usual password practices, whatever they might be, consider doing the following:

• Make them at least thirteen characters long. This increases the number of characters that a hacker has to guess in order to break into your account.
• Utilize a variety of numbers, lower and upper-case letters, and special characters. This makes your password more unpredictable and harder to guess.
• Never use the same password twice—always use a different password for a new account, as you could potentially put your other accounts at risk if your password is stolen in the future.
• Make them easy to remember but difficult to guess. Avoid commonly used passwords like 12345678 or “password.”

Supplements to Passwords

Passwords alone are not enough, especially not with today’s advanced threats. You can use password management tools to make using complex passwords even easier, and you can use multi-factor authentication to add additional layers of security that make it even more difficult for hackers to infiltrate your accounts. Of course, you should also have your standard security measures and intrusion detection in place too, just in case something were to happen.

Don’t Let Hackers Crack Your Business

Passwords aren’t going away, even if they aren’t the end-all-be-all of your security. We can help you implement the technology to use them effectively. Learn more by calling us today at (703) 821-8200.