Reminder to Follow Password Best Practices
If You Needed a Reminder, This Is It… The Majority of People Aren’t Careful With Their Passwords, But Best Practices Must Be Followed to Keep Your Data Safe.
If you needed a reminder to follow password best practices, this is it. Take a look at the following surprising statistics regarding passwords[1]:
- 51% of people use the same password between personal and work accounts
- 23 MILLION account holders are using the password “123456” right now
- 57% of people who were scammed via phishing haven’t updated their passwords
The statistics don’t lie… Unfortunately, best practices regarding passwords aren’t often followed. For those who have already been scammed via phishing, failing to update their passwords is a huge mistake. The best case scenario? The hacker steals a bit of money from their bank account. The worst case scenario? The hacker manages to steal their identity.
The Theft of a Personal Password Can Bring Serious Consequences, But the Theft of a Work Password Can Be Even Worse – Turning Into a Disastrous Situation Fast.
When it comes to corporate phishing attacks, the consequences become even more severe. Small amounts of money becomes hundreds of thousands of dollars. A stolen identity becomes multiple stolen identities. A simple, honest mistake of failing to change a password after it’s stolen or using a weak, easy-to-guess password in the first place can be disastrous for the organization – resulting in:
- Legal liabilities/lawsuits
- Lost customers
- Damaged reputation
- Non-compliance fines
- And much more
But even if you haven’t been the victim of a phishing attack or other form of cybercrime (that you’re aware of), it’s still important to use a strong, hard-to-guess password and only change it when it’s been hacked.
Our Recommendations for Creating Strong, Secure Passwords Each and Every Time…
Advantage Industries follows NIST Federal Guidelines for passwords as outlined in 800-63B. We recommend creating a strong, hard-to-guess password and only changing it when a threat is identified. Our recommendations for creating strong, secure passwords each and every time are outlined below:
- Use a mix of numbers, letters, and symbols that don’t include any keywords relevant to you, such as your birthday or child’s name.
- Keep a minimum of 12 characters as shorter passwords tend to be easier to break in a brute force attack than longer passwords.
- Use a strong, unique password for each account and use a password management solution to keep them all stored.
- Implement two-factor authentication wherever possible to ensure there’s an additional security layer on top of your password.
Need help staying safe against cybercrime? Fill out the form or give us a call anytime.
