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How to Strengthen and Secure Your Passwords

This week has been full of the recent hacking from a Russian crime ring.  They have managed to collect 1.2 billion username and password combinations.

This is the largest known collection of stolen Internet credentials.  A full list of compromised websites has not been disclosed however it is best practice to change your passwords immediately.

So how do you strengthen and secure your passwords?

365 iT SOLUTIONS has put together a list of some steps to create a strong password:

  • Long Password. It’s tempting to use short passwords; they are easier to type and easier to remember. Many computer systems require passwords of some minimum length, but for those that do not, consider the following reasons why longer passwords enhance computer security.

 

  • Combinations. Use combinations of letters and numbers, upper and lower case and symbols such as the exclamation mark. Some services won’t let you do all of that, but try to vary it as much as you can. “PaSsWoRd!43” is far better than “password43.”

 

  • Dictionary. Avoid words that are in dictionaries, even if you add numbers and symbols. There are programs that can crack passwords by going through databases of known words.  If you do use a dictionary word, try adding numbers in the middle of a word.

 

  • Substitute. Characters, numbers, uppercase, lowercase, symbols (if applicable). For instance, use the number zero instead of the letter O, or replace the S with a dollar sign.

 

  • Same Password. Never reuse passwords on other accounts, always make them different. A good trick on this one is to create a very good secure password and modify it slightly for each login. Add “F”, “FB”, “fB”,”Fb” to your password for Facebook.

 

  • Two Stage Authentication. Many services like Gmail are giving you the option of using two passwords when you use a particular computer or device for the first time. If you have that feature turned on, the service will send a text message with a six-digit code to your phone when you try to use Gmail from an unrecognized device. You’ll need to enter that for access, and then the code expires.  Hackers cannot access the account without possessing your phone. Turn it on by going to the account’s security settings.

 

365 iT SOLUTIONS provides industry leading IT security consulting in the Toronto area.  Whether you have a small business or nationwide enterprise, you can trust we will keep your network running smoothly and secure from external threats, hardware failures, and service disruptions.

 

Our Canadian team offers industry leading expertise in design, implementation, monitoring, and management.  Our solutions are based on Scalability, Availability, Load-balancing and Security.

 

We will design, implement, and maintain highly scalable LAN and WAN systems.  We maximize uptime, optimize performance, and improve security.  Our Canadian IT Security team will perform network and security assessment.  We are your business partner therefore we will ensure the integrity of your business critical systems.

 

365 iT SOLUTIONS is a leading IT consulting firm in Toronto. We provide industry leading Managed IT ServicesIT Support ServicesIT Outsourcing ServicesTech Support Services and Cloud Services.

Take advantage of our Complimentary Network and Security Assessment by 365itSolutions.com