All that stands between hackers and your account’s data, be it personal information or sensitive business info, is a measly string of characters that may (or may not) be complex enough to thwart their attacks. Hackers are getting smarter while most people’s simple passwords stay the same. For most businesses, they are the only thing protecting important data. We’ll walk you through how to make sure your passwords are as complex as possible, as well as instruct you on how to implement additional security features to keep your data locked down.
How to Create a Secure Password to Secure Data
We have a lot of blog articles on passwords and password security for good reason, they are critically important for your business. The ideal password is generally easy to remember, but difficult to guess, all while utilizing a plethora of letters, numbers, and symbols. Unfortunately, all of this combines to create a situation that makes remembering a password practically impossible without some sort of aid or program. We recommend putting together a password that is an alphanumeric representation of a phrase that you will remember. You could use a password program that will keep them safe without you having to remember them. You could also use a passphrase, which is a string of words like ‘Ilovepizza’ and put some symbols and letters on the end.
Of course, if you make so many of these, you might forget which ones apply to that particular account. This is where password management comes in. You can create a “master password” that acts as the gatekeeping password for your many accounts. Password managers store your passwords in a secure database where they are only called on as needed, keeping you from having to remember them all. Having your employees all do this can add an extra layer of security.
Two-Factor Authentication
Passwords are best utilized alongside a secondary method of authentication. This could be in the form of a passcode sent to your mobile device via text message or phone call, or it could be a biometric code of some sort like a thumbprint. Regardless, a secondary method of authentication means that your account is less likely to be infiltrated, as it effectively means twice the work for any hacker attempting to break in.We really recommend using a 2 step password system for all accounts, in business and your personal life.
We hope this showed how you can secure data using passwords. Symmetric IT Group can equip your business with password managers and two-factor authentication tools that will optimize data security and ensure your accounts will have a minimal chance of being compromised. To learn more, reach out to us at (813) 749-0895. Please go to our information security page to find out more ways we can give your business the cybersecurity measures it needs.
