The importance of password strength is critical to your Network’s safety. Businesses spend countless time and resources on software and equipment to protect their sensitive data, only to have their Network compromised by a User with less than secure password practices. “Why do I care if someone hacks my Company’s Network?” Here’s why. Your company uses proprietary and sensitive data on a daily basis, some of which may include, but is not limited to, payroll and tax information about YOU. This could include your Social Security number, address and phone number. We have all heard the horror stories about the repercussions of identity theft. So, I would argue that it IS in your best interest to help keep your Company’s Network secure.
Hackers can use many methods to acquire your password. The most prevalent method is a dictionary attack. Dictionary attacks are derived from lists of words found in a dictionary. These programs are capable of adding numeric characters to the word lists to accommodate for any numbers that you may have added to the beginning or end of your password. The program tries thousands of words per second until it eventually finds the right combination. This type of attack is often times successful due to our tendency to use words and names familiar to us.
So what makes a strong password? There are many methods that you can use to help you create a strong password, but will also keep it easy to remember.
Here are a few guidelines to use when picking a password:
• Passwords should be at least 8 characters
• Do NOT use any variation of your first or last name (no family members either)
• Use combinations of lower and uppercase letters
• Substitute numbers for letters, e.g. Hello could be h31lo. I have substituted “3” for “e” and “1” for “l”.
• Substitute characters for numbers by holding down the “Shift” key, e.g. 45678 now becomes $%^&*
These are just a few suggestions which can help you create a more secure password. My personal favorite method is to choose a phrase. Take for example:
“I understand that passwords are very important for security at work”, would become:
IuPavI4S@w
This password is more than 8 characters long, combines lower and uppercase letters, substitutes numbers for letters and is easy for me to remember.
So how strong is your current password? Here at Ossa Technology Solutions, we try to provide our customers with the tools and resources to make their life easier. Follow the link below. It will redirect you to a password checker that we provide to our customers.
http://www.ossatechnology.com/support/support.aspx
Put in your current password and wait for the results. You may be surprised to find out how secure (or unsecure) your password really is!