NTG Tips for Crafting Strong Passwords
The simplest step – and one of the most important and useful – in securing your sensitive data is learning to create strong passwords that are difficult to guess or crack. In addition to two-factor authentication, a strong password is an important line of defense against cybercriminals. Learn to write impenetrable passwords from Tampa’s best cybersecurity services provider.
Common Password Mistakes
There are many mistakes people tend to make when creating passwords: using repetitive words or common codes, using their birthdays or favorite celebrity names as passwords for their account, even favorite pet names and so on. Hackers can easily crack them to get hold of your accounts. Even when you make a strong password, any cybersecurity company will tell you, you must vary passwords from site to site.
Use Different Password For Each Account
Creating one strong password and using it for multiple accounts may seem easier, but it’s extremely risky. If a hacker gets one password, they will be able to access all of your accounts which share that same password. The rule is one unique password for each account, no matter what kind of account it is.
Avoid Using Old Passwords
Passwords should never be reused. Using an old password that you have shared with anyone, saved on any old browser, or has been hacked in the past predisposes your current accounts to the same threats. NTG’s cybersecurity experts advise not to use any of your past passwords, even if it was a password you used very long ago.
Avoid Memorable Keyboard Paths
“QWERTY”, “CVBNM,” or 12345 as passwords are extremely common and easy to guess. These are much too memorable, and cyber criminals have seen these time and time again. To improve your cybersecurity, make sure your passwords are extremely unique, long, and use a variety of characters.
Avoid Personal Information
Your date or place of birth, name of your spouse, parents, or children, and workplace are easy to remember. NTG’s cybersecurity services team are against using personal information as a password and recommend avoiding it completely. Personal information is often predictable by friends and family, and could provide clues to other information or passwords that a hacker is attempting to crack.
Characteristics of Strong Passwords From Tampa’s Best Cybersecurity Services Provider
- Create a password with 12 characters or more.
- Do not use common substitutions like @ for a, & for and, 2 for to or two.
- Use a combination of capital and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols.
- If you are using a word as your password, make sure it is not present in the dictionary.
- Do not include the names of your loved ones, your real name, common username, or the name of your workplace.
- Your password should not be a phone number or address.
- Do not save passwords on the browser.
- Do not share passwords with anyone. Even if you share it with trusted people, do change your password afterwards.
- If you think you can forget your password, it is better to write them in a notebook that you safely store away. Creating a document on your computer or saving passwords on the drive is not safe.
- Your password must be unique.
Length Of The Password
The main contributor to a password’s strength is its length. The cybersecurity services team at NTG recommends using an 8- to 12-character long password. Shorter passwords are considered weak. The longer passwords are, the harder to guess or crack.
Alpha-Numeric and Symbol Combination
Your password should not consist of only letters, or numbers, or symbols. They must contain a combination of all of these. Both capital and lower-case letters, any acceptable punctuation mark in place of a symbol, and use of numbers will make any password strong. This combination makes it hard for hackers to crack them even by using more advanced methods.
