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Passwords protect email accounts, banking information, private documents, administrator rights, and more — and yet, user after user continues to make critical errors when it comes to choosing, protecting and managing their passwords.

Passwords are as tricky to create and manage as they are vital to your daily life, both in and out of the office. Passwords grant you access to your email accounts, your office systems, and programs, your banking information, your social media, etc. 

World Password Day falls on May 6th this year, and the CyberUnlocked team likes to mark the annual day as an ideal time to remind all business owners of the importance of protecting company data with selective and secure passwords.

Your life essentially runs on passwords — but are you aware of how important they really are?

Why Are Your Passwords So Important?

Despite the fact that passwords are the most direct way to access a user's private information, most passwords in use today are not considered to be strong or complex enough – and even if they are, they aren't updated often enough.

57% of people who have already been scammed in phishing attacks still haven’t changed their passwords, and 71% of accounts are protected by passwords used on multiple websites.

Is it the same for you?

What Are The Top 3 Ways To Keep Your Passwords Strong and Safe?

Don’t be one of the 23 million account holders still using “1300 901 835”. Follow these guidelines to make sure your passwords are strong:

Password Strength

Commonly, passwords are required to include uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. 

Consider using a passphrase—which is when you combine multiple words into one long string of characters—instead of a password. The extra length of a passphrase makes it harder to crack.

For a more secure passphrase, you're encouraged to combine multiple unrelated words to create the passphrase, for example, "goldielittlelamb3pigs." Use these tips to figure out a passphrase that works for you:

• Use a line from your favourite movie or book 
• Think of a Line From a Song
• Choose 4 random words
• Create a mathematical formula
  

Password Managers

These programs store all of your passwords in one place, which is sometimes called a vault. 

Some programs can even make strong passwords for you and keep track of them all in one location, so then the only password or passphrase you have to remember is the one for your vault.

The downside of using a password keeper program is if an attacker cracks your vault password, then he or she knows all of your passwords for all of your accounts. But many IT professionals agree, the benefit of a password manager far outweighs this risk.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-Factor Authentication is a great way to add an extra layer of protection to the existing system and account logins. 45% of polled businesses began using MFA in recent years.

By requiring a second piece of information like a randomly-generated numerical code sent by text message, you're better able to ensure that the person using your employee's login credentials is actually who they say they are. Biometrics like fingerprints, voice or even iris scans are also options, as are physical objects like keycards.

Don’t Underestimate The Importance Of Your Passwords

In the end, creating, updating, and managing strong passwords can be frustrating, but it's incredibly important. Privacy and security are major concerns for personal users and businesses alike these days, and so users have to be sure that they aren't making it easy for hackers to access their private data.

As you can see, managing passwords can be a complicated and time-consuming task, and that’s just one aspect of effective cybersecurity defence. You don’t have to handle it all on your own — the CyberUnlocked team of cybersecurity experts is available to help you make sure you have the best solutions and processes in place to keep your business secure. 

Get in touch with our team to learn more.