Over the past couple of months we have seen COVID-19 drastically shape and shift the world, with this being said Information Technology had to change to meet the requirements of the “New Normal”. But with changes, new challenges did arise, especially in the cyber security industry.
Improve Cyber Security
For many years the front lines of Cyber-war were fought at the premises of organisations, with large sums of money pushed to secure them from external threats. Now, with most individuals working from home, we see the attack surface increase. Especially when a user has little to no security measures in place.
Not only do we need to have home networks secured, but controlled external access to the business network is now also required. In our opinion, the first step to securing a business in today’s world is to educate employees on security risks. The need to improve your cyber security is unfortunately a no brainer.
What makes a strong password?
As per the CIS (Centre for internet Security)
“A strong password consists of at least 10 characters and includes a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. A unique password is a password that is only used with one account.”
The good news is you don’t have to memorize strings of random letters, numbers and characters in order to meet the requirements of a good password. You simply need a few clever tricks.
Making a password easy to remember does not have to be difficult, here are a few tips:
- Try making a little sentence that is easy to remember.
For example:
“I met the love of My life at 34” can be – “ImtloMl@34”
“Bought my first House for 10 dollars” now becomes – “BMfHf10$”
- Do not use things like “Spring@19” and then the following year using “Spring@20”
When a password gets leaked, hackers try various combinations. You would be surprised how easily guessed your password will be especially if you have a history of repetitive ones. - Do not use commonly known information as the answers to your recovery questions.
For example:
“What is my first pet’s name?” do not use your actual pet’s name, instead make something up that is easy to remember.
Once you have your super complex easy to remember password, make use of password manager. It will randomly generate all other passwords, unique to each site. The major advantage of this is that you will only need to remember one master password.
Password managers can simplify a lot of the challenges.
An example of an excellent FREE password manager is KeePass. It is an open-source service, which means that the code can be verified by any security professional. You retain full control over your passwords because it provides end-to-end encryption. Programs like Dashlane and Lastpass are also great paid password managers that can sync your passwords, across multiple devices.
For more information on cyber security and password management solutions send us an email on info@leftclick.co.za and one of our experienced IT professionals will be in touch.