A heavy-duty metal lock depicting a strong password

Cybersecurity 101: Why You Need Strong Passwords

The surging number of cybercrimes underscores the importance of robust and unique password codes for cyber safety. Whether you’re working in a giant conglomerate or a small business setup, you must keep your confidential and sensitive data safe from breaches and hackers.

Cybersecurity management experts recommend strong passwords as one of their critical considerations for system safety. There’s even a World Password Day that reminds people about best practices around passwords. Unless you know the importance and tricks of setting up unique access codes, you might end up making poor network security decisions.

In this blog, we’ll explain why system and network security is essential and how setting strong passwords can help your organization achieve it.

Importance of Passwords

Text Box: Image Filename: password-authentication-error-message
Image Alt Text: Password authentication error on a screen
Cybersecurity professionals recommend strong, unique passwords as an important part of your defense strategy. Even if other parts of your system are breached, a password could act as a last line of defense for your sensitive information or confidential data.

Every day, thousands of malicious emails, documents, links, and users launch a variety of attacks against organizational and personal networks. This exposes people to various cybersecurity threats associated with their work, social media, or personal accounts.

Password authentication error on a screen

Benefits of Strong Passwords

Cybercriminals often focus their attacks on taking advantage of weak authentication to intrude into an authorized network. Setting strong passwords can thwart these routine attacks and protect you against malware. The following are some of the benefits of creating strong, unique passwords:

  • Protects your personal and official information
  • Secures mobile devices
  • Acts as a digital self-defense
  • Safeguards information sharing cycle
  • Prevents break-ins and loss of valuable emails, employee information, images, documents, and financial records

Expert Recommendations for Managing Passwords

Here are some recommendations from cybersecurity and IT experts:

  • never disclose passwords to third party users
  • update your access code frequently
  • don’t use previously used passwords
  • never share login credentials via email
  • set central policies that enforce password complexity, history, and change frequency
  • use two- or multi-factor authentication wherever it is available
  • don’t select the “remember me” option for saving login information on multiple sites
  • never reuse passwords across multiple sites or services – if one site gets breached, you could be hacked elsewhere if you use the same credentials
  • never write down your passwords – consider a virtual password locker software

Contact us for Cyber Intelligence Services.

Password hygiene is a small, but important part of an over-all cybersecurity program at your organization. ISA Cybersecurity can help with all of your IT security and cybersecurity management needs. We provide assessment and advisory services, design and implementation services, incident response readiness and digital forensics, hosted and managed services, and much more. Contacting us will be a key step toward ensuring the safety of your sensitive and highly confidential information.

To learn more about our threat management and security advisory services, contact ISA today and let’s get started. We deliver cybersecurity services and people you can trust.

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