Blog

Improving business cybersecurity by improving password practices.

How to Improve your Passwords

A strong and memorable password is a core part of using online services. Keeping it secure is essential to avoid hacking, theft and other crimes. Creating and maintaining good passwords is a vital business cybersecurity practice so sensitive information can be protected.

Why Passwords Need to Be Strong to Improve Business Cybersecurity

A password needs to be strong to avoid someone second-guessing it and then accessing data and accounts. Many people don’t think about the security of their passwords and just use a word that can easily be guessed. 

Alarmingly, there are still millions of people who use something as basic as 123456 or “password” which can be worked out in moments. Using a mixture of numbers, symbols and letters helps keep passwords secure but there are other ways of creating and maintaining security.

No Pets and Names

A common mistake people make is to use the name of a pet or child in a password. This is something that a person trying to access your account can easily crack. Mix the lettering up or use a random word interspersed with a symbol or two. 

Always be wary of quizzes on social media asking for details like the street you grew up on. Many of these snippets of data are used in multi-step authentication so are useful for hackers gleaning information,

Use Different Passwords

People make the mistake of using the same password for personal, work and financial accounts. It is easy to remember but if one account gets hacked, the rest are vulnerable. 

Always use a unique password for your bank accounts. Use a different password for work and personal accounts. Never leave your password written where it can be seen, such as at a workstation. 

Avoid using the new trend of having a labeled password book for these words, as a thief can grab it.

Change Frequently

Staying ahead of the game is vital so be sure to change your password frequently. Many businesses and managed cybersecurity teams automate this process, but you should think about a change every three months. 

Don’t tell anyone your password. If you need to do so, be sure to change it as soon as possible afterward. The more people that know your password, the weaker the link.

Use Multi-Step Authenticity

To make your accounts very secure, use a multi-step authentication process, often part of cybersecurity services. This can involve a PIN number beside a password or a code sent to your cell phone. All these processes slow down the ability of an unauthorized person to gain access to your accounts.

When you create and maintain good passwords, you are using one of the best ways to improve business cybersecurity keep sensitive data protected.

Employee passwords are a hot ticket item that is sold on the dark web. Let us perform a dark web scan and find all your compromised employee credentials before the cyberattack happens.

Envision Consulting

Envision Consulting

We started Envision Consulting for businesses that share our passion for building long- term and healthy relationships. While we might be technology experts, we’ve always known that trust, reliability and looking after a client’s best interest are paramount to succeeding in business. But in 2001 and to this day, there were few managed IT providers available that embodied our customer-centric values. There were countless support companies more interested in reacting to issues than paving the road forward for clients, making it far too difficult to build long-term relationships. We felt a strong pull to make something different, and we did.