It’s one of those niggles in life that only becomes a reality when something goes wrong. And passwords can be irritating. But they really are highly essential, so we’ll allow ourselves a brief nag on it!
World Password Day is an annual event that takes place globally on the first Thursday of every May and aims to raise awareness of the importance of having strong passwords and providing best practices for online account security. The day is supported by hundreds of organisations including the National Cyber Security Alliance, Intel, Microsoft and more.
Why have World Password Day?
The importance of strong password security may seem rather obvious and/or boring. However, research shows that despite the huge rises in data breaches in recent years and the well known consequences of these, poor password habits are still surprisingly common.
TeleSign’s 2015 Consumer Account Security Report found that 70% of users lack the confidence that passwords are able to adequately protect their online accounts. And this concern is justified – Verizon’s 2016 Data Breach Investigation Report showed that weak, default or stolen passwords caused 63% of all data breaches in 2015. A big part of the problem lies in the reusing of passwords. A mind-boggling 73% of online accounts use duplicated passwords, which can create a “domino effect” whereby all accounts with the same password are affected when even just one account is breached.
What can you do?
Here’s 3 simple steps you can do to protect your business and personal data and online accounts.
Toughen up your passwords
The first step in ramping up your online security is to strengthen your passwords. 123456 may continue to be a popular choice, but that also makes it one of the weakest. Updating your passwords goes a long way towards protecting your digital accounts, and is something that should be done on a regular basis (nag nag!).
As a guide, you should look to update your passwords every 90 days and make sure you are creating passwords that are long, strong and unique for every account. Intel and National Cyber Security Alliance have created some great social images to help you remember and share these important tips, which you can find at www.passwordday.org.
Consider a password manager
The second step recommended by many cyber security experts is to utilise a password manager. These relieve the burden of trying to memorise different and complex passwords by managing them all in one “vault” and locking that vault with a single master password. There are many great password managers out there and PCWorld has a great list of four strong options to get your started.
Turn on two-factor authentification
The final step, and perhaps the most important, is to protect your passwords with two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an additional layer of security that combines something you know (your password) with something you have (your mobile phone) to keep hackers out of your account even if they obtain your username and password. Many of the world’s largest and most popular web platforms offer 2FA today, and you can find simple step-by-step instructions for how to turn it on with over 150 sites at www.turnon2fa.com.
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So there you have it. Following these three simple steps today will help you step up your digital security and better protect your business and its data.
As your trusted IT partners, Complete IT Systems can offer you expert advice on cyber security solutions and how they could be effectively deployed in your business.
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