In recent years, billions of people have been affected by various data breaches and cyberattacks. Not only have these victims lost money or valuable data, but they also lost their personal security.
We hear about these cyberattacks every day and it's easy to think, "Why should I protect myself if the stats are against me?"
Or are we up against the stats?
Over 65% of people regularly reuse passwords, with 13% reusing the same password across all accounts. This means that more than half of us have decided to risk our financial security and personal identity in favor of convenience, and that can be a costly mistake. In fact, one of the easiest ways you can protect yourself from joining these costly statistics is to use a password manager.
At Five Nines, when a company comes to us for managed IT solutions, we always consider how they can tighten up their data security. Let's dive into the ways you can quickly improve your cybersecurity habits to minimize risk and become less of a predictable target.
1. Choose a password that's not obvious.
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)'s updated guidelines, your passwords should focus on length rather than complexity. To achieve this for a password you have to remember or type often, you can use longer passphrases that are easier to remember than complicated passwords, such as “The cornhuskers are ranked again!”
Avoid simple, common, and short passwords. Hackers will take simple and commonly-used passwords like "Huskers1" and test them against various sites & services to see who they can breach online – a tactic called "password spraying".
The "bad" password above is a great example of regional password trends – an attacker seeking to compromise the account of someone in Nebraska is likely to have success using Husker-themed passwords in a password-spraying attack. For this reason, it's a good rule to avoid this type of password.
2. Use a password manager to track all of your passwords in one secure place.
At Five Nines, we recommend both companies and home users alike invest in a trusted Password Management solution. Many of the top providers have free and low-cost options that include the ability to automatically save and fill passwords on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices – a great option to make using strong, secure passwords more convenient.
Look for benefits like trusted encryption, autofill and browser extensions, Emergency Access features, and Watchtower features that inform you if any of your passwords are known to be compromised.
Bottom line: you can vary up your passwords more often when you have a secure and convenient place to store them.
3. Be aware of data breaches.
Keep an eye out for when breaches are reported, and when they are, double-check that your information wasn't compromised as a result. Last year, the total number of data compromises increased by 78% from the year before. The risk continues to grow, and it can happen to you if it hasn't already.
Besides checking places like the Identity Theft Resource Center (a California based non-profit that puts out information on the latest data breaches), you can also use free tools, like Credit Karma. Their identity monitoring service will alert you about data breaches and exposed passwords so you're in the loop about a potential threat. Your managed IT solutions provider should discuss potential data breaches with you.
Five Nines Can Help
As IT professionals, we know how cumbersome changing passwords can be. These are the tools & guidelines we stand behind, and we hope by passing them along, your information can be better kept under lock & key. We’re here to help as your trusted managed IT solutions provider.
Have questions on how this affects your business? Contact us today.
