Passwords (Cybersecurity Month Tip #6)

If you are like most modern folks, you use a large number of passwords every day. As mentioned in our very first tip this month, the use of passwords alone to secure anything of significant value/importance is a questionable practice by today’s standards. However, the reality is that for now and for the foreseeable future we are likely to be doing business in this way with many of the sites and services we access. And even with multi-factor authentication, the use of a strong password is still your first line of defense.

So how do you ensure your passwords are strong? Key tips include:
  • Length is strength. Making your password longer is the easiest and most effective way to make it stronger and more difficult to guess it crack. 

  • Consider using a real phrase. A real phrase, complete with spaces, capitalization, and punctuation, will be longer than most passwords while meeting most password requirements, being quick for a good typist to type, and being easy to remember.

  • Don't be tempted to use the same password for everything. Too many websites and services get hacked, and if your login information is exposed then hackers will try using that same information to log into other sites.

In honor of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, for October we will be posting short tips for users on improving their information security awareness and practices every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday all month long.

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