Happy World Password Day! While it may sound pedantic, this is a good day to be reminded that Identity and Access Management are some of the most important security controls for your personal data. Here are a few helpful tips to strengthening your passwords.
Good Password Rules
Strong and Complex Passwords are harder to crack:
- Make passwords at least 12 characters long, 16 is best
- Use complex characters (%@#&~!)
- Use mixed cased Letters
- Don’t use personal info for full words in the password
- Try using the first 3 words of your favorite song and mix up some characters
Don’t Reuse Passwords – If one system is compromised and your password for that system was in the compromise, then that password can hit the dark web and be re-used on other systems in a very short period of time. And especially don’t reuse passwords between your work and home, this can lead to a business compromise and a lot more headaches. You can discover if your password has been discovered in a breach here: https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords
Use a Password Manager – Making passwords more complex creates the challenge of remembering them. Password Management software can not only hold all of your passwords and help you find them, but they can also auto-generate very complex passwords for you.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication – For systems you feel are important or contain important personal data, be sure to enable multi-factor authentication. This helps defeat the issues of stolen passwords.
Don’t Click on Email Links – And of course, don’t fall prey to email phishing. This can compromise the tightest security controls, even on your personal laptop, by allowing the bad actors to either gain direct access or to download your passwords saved in your browser.
If you are reading this, your challenge today is to implement at least on of these suggestions for your financial systems today! Accept the challenge and protect your finances.
ACSM has been helping businesses protect their assets and improve their security and privacy posture since 2006. Our skilled team can help your business understand its cyber weaknesses and potential threats as well as improve your security, privacy, and compliance postures. Our services include penetration testing, maturity assessments, cyber security, and privacy implementation assistance, CISO-as-a-Service, DPO-as-a-Service, and numerous MSP and MSSP services, to mention a few.
To learn more about how ACSM can help support your cyber defense needs, please use our contact page https://www.americancsm.com/contact-us/ and schedule a free consultation call today.