It never fails. The week you spent on vacation in an exotic destination and the corresponding rest and relaxation that came along with it is quickly replaced with stress and frustration. Sure, turning your phone off and leaving your laptop at home was just what the doctor ordered, but now it’s Monday and you can’t remember your password. This happens more often than you may think, and it isn’t always vacation induced.
Forgetting your password or being prompted to update a password are common problems across any office. It’s like trying to remember if you turned off the iron or closed the garage door. Essentially our brain doesn’t waste time or energy recording these simple, habitual, mundane things we do on a frequent basis. However this can not only be a major drain on productivity it can also carry some significant security concerns.
With cybercrimes becoming more prevalent, especially on a corporate level, the importance of password protection and maintenance has never been higher. Here are some trends and statistics from a survey conducted by TeleSign.
- In the past year 2 out of every 5 people have:
- Had their account hacked.
- Had a password stolen.
- Received a notification that their personal information had been compromised.
- 8 in 10 people are concerned about online security.
- 7 in 10 people no longer trust only passwords to protect their information.
- 21% of people use passwords that over 10 years old.
- 47% of people use passwords that over 5 years old.
- 73% of online accounts are protected by duplicate passwords.
These trends and numbers can be unsettling. While many platforms require you to change or update your password, rotating passwords or making minor changes can also be problematic. Here are a few best practices from Krebs that you can implement.
- Use a combination of words, numbers, symbols and upper & lower case letters.
- Don’t use perceived confidential information like: birthdate, social security number, address, etc.
- Avoid words that can be found in a dictionary. This where a combination of letters, numbers and symbols makes password guessing software ineffective.
- Do not use adjacent keyboard combinations (i.e. qwerty, asdf, etc.).
- Don’t store your passwords in plain text on your computer.
These are just a few tips for keeping your online accounts, your computer and your business secure. Forgetting your password may be a harder problem to solve, but sound password management and maintenance is an important element. AtlasOne Technologies provides network security and technology management for Baton Rouge area businesses.
