In today’s modern age, entrepreneurs expand their boundaries through online services. Most of these require them to sign up using username and password. Regardless whether your account is paid or not, your business is a good target that can attract cybercriminals.
Creating a strong password is one of the common security measures to protect your data from hackers. However, it is also one challenge that most of us have been thoughtlessly doing.
Keep your passwords difficult to break. Here are some tips to help you create a strong password for your account.
1. Lengthen your password. A strong and good password has a minimum of 12 characters. In fact, the longer, the better it is for your security. Hackers would find it difficult to crack if you have 12-15 characters in your password.
2. Make your password complex. You should also see to it that there’s a pool of mixed characters in your password. Consider using 4 instead of a, or 5 for S and other mixture of lower and uppercase letters. Avoid using your personal data and perfectly spelled words from the dictionary. Make sure your passwords are incomprehensible for others but memorable for you.
Although complex passwords can also be difficult for your part, you can still use reliable password managers like LastPass and Dashlane.
3. Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts. You might have found the strongest password that’s really difficult to crack but if you use it for a couple of accounts, it would be unsafe. Hackers usually attack one site and try to invade more of your accounts using that password. So in order to limit the damage that may be done for your business and personal life, using unique passwords in different sites would be the best thing to do.
4. Beware of scams. Cybercriminals have tricked many users using phishing scams. This usually comes in a prompt or email where they require you to give out your information such as username and password. They may appear official and trustworthy but you should not fall for this because companies do not simply ask for your login information through email.
5. Don’t change them too often. Some people think that changing the password regularly would keep you more protected and safe. However, Microsoft Research security expert Cormac Herley notes that there is no evidence that password changes can improve outcomes. Making a strong password and sticking with them for a long time would be a better suggestion.
6. Keep your devices secure from threats. You might have a strong password but what good would it do to you if you have malicious software on your computer? Increase your security even more by updating your antivirus. Threats like “keyboard loggers” can trace all of your keystrokes and they can be used to steal necessary data such as your log in information. Moreover, avoid using public computers and don’t forget to log out from your account.
These are just some proper cybersecurity measures to keep you secure from online threats. For more inquiries, you can leave us a message and we’ll be happy to help.