I’m not sure we need to tell you how important passwords are: they are the front-line defense to most of the accounts you create. What is often overlooked is the strategy of how to use a password to successfully protect accounts and data. Today, we will discuss best practices when creating and managing your passwords and how you are likely approaching your password strategy improperly.
Your business’ security largely depends on how secure the passwords are that keep your resources from being accessed without authorization. Despite this, many users—perhaps even you—frequently sacrifice sufficient security measures in favor of the simple and convenient route, cutting corners when coming up with their passwords. Let’s try and remedy this by reviewing a few practices that can help make a password more effective.
The new year is upon us and after the debacle that 2020 was, it is extremely welcome. If you are like us, you have a new set of goals that you’ve created for yourself and are probably looking to improve your professional and personal well-being. One way to do that is to ensure that your accounts are secure. Today, we will be going through how to update your password with Microsoft.
Going through your passwords and updating them every so often is a very wise habit to get into, particularly when they are used to protect a lot of data—as the password to your Google account often is. Considering this, let’s go over how to update your Google password and otherwise lock down your account.
There is no understating the importance of strong, reliable passwords to your organization’s network security, especially to protect its wireless connection. However, this can create some friction with your staff when they try to connect to Wi-Fi using their mobile device. To make accessing the Internet easier, scannable QR codes can be used to connect to the Internet.
Twitter is recommending that all 336 million users change their passwords as soon as possible due to the discovery of an internal security flaw. While the issue has been fixed and no data breach seems to have taken place, Twitter is clearly taking this situation seriously.
On Thursday, May 3, it came to light that there was an internal log upon which an undisclosed number of account passwords were recorded without any protection. As a result, this unknown amount of passwords can no longer be considered secure, even though there is no apparent evidence that any data breach has occurred.
Twitter uses a process called hashing to protect their passwords, as many companies do. However, a bug created a log of passwords before they were hashed, leaving them fully legible. This bug has since been resolved.
In response to this situation, Twitter is being proactive and recommending that all of its users change their passwords, just in case. To do so, log in to your account in your browser, access Settings and privacy, and from there, Password. It is also a good idea to enable two-factor authentication by accessing Settings and privacy, clicking into Account. Once there, click on the “Set up login verification” button and follow the instructions. You will find yourself on a Login verification screen, where you can activate the means to generate another authentication code.
While disaster seems to be averted this time, you should not hesitate to change your password as soon as possible, and makes sure that all of your online accounts have strong passwords in place. For more information about keeping your identity safe online, call the IT professionals at The Connection, Inc at (732) 291-5938.
A new email scam is making its rounds and it has a lot of people concerned with just how much a hacker can peer into one’s private life. How would you react if a stranger emailed you saying they had inappropriate webcam footage of you?
The funny thing about some documents is how the data written on them can strongly influence how important they are. If, for instance, there were two pieces of paper on a table, there is objectively no difference between the two, and so they are objectively equivalent in value.
Any business in operation today needs to keep modern realities concerning cybersecurity at top-of-mind if they are going to successfully maintain the business going forward. One major issue to be cognizant of is the increasing prevalence of phishing attacks.
Did you know that, in 2018, phishing attacks had increased by 269 percent as compared to 2017? Furthermore, phishing was involved in 32 percent of all reported data breaches that year. Businesses located in the United States also seem to have the most to be worried about, as almost 86 percent of phishing attacks were leveraged against American targets.
NCSAM, or National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, is meant to encourage awareness of cybersecurity practices and behaviors in an attempt to promote them. This year’s lessons cover many basic cybersecurity practices - including how to identify and avoid phishing attempts, reinforcing the 2019 theme of “Own IT. Secure IT. Protect IT.”
Of course, we can also help you out by giving you some actionable best practices now.
While this month may be dedicated to improved cybersecurity awareness, it isn’t as though you don’t have to consider it for the rest of the year. The Connection, Inc is here to assist you in keeping your business and its data secure. Give us a call at (732) 291-5938 to learn more about the solutions we have to offer.
Password security is a tricky part of running a business. After all, it’s not just dealing with your own password, but those of the many employees all throughout your organization. In times like this, it’s helpful to provide them with a list of how to make the best passwords possible. Here are a couple of examples for what to do, as well as what you shouldn’t do, when building a proper password.
Technology is supposed to make things easier, yet it’s a common source of frustration when it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to. As an IT company, we experience technology frustrations all the time, and we wish that many of these frustrations could just be eliminated altogether. In our opinion, here are four technology frustrations that need to go.
Passwords
If you follow the best practice of having a different password for every single account that is complex and hard to remember, then you’re essentially left with a long list of complex passwords that is impossible to remember. Even if you utilize a password management tool like LastPass, you can still run into problems with passwords getting stolen, or having to navigate to a password page before you enter your account.
The crazy thing about passwords is that there are multi-factor and biometric technologies that can replace them (like retina and fingerprint scanning). These alternative technologies are easily accessible and can provide a more secure solution. Yet, here we are in 2016 and passwords are still the norm. You’re asked to create a new one every time you sign up for anything online. We can do better. Let’s move on from passwords.
Aggressive Promotion From Technology Vendors
Yeah, we’re looking at you Java and Flash. Many “free” applications are free because they get paid by their sponsors to sneak in extra gimmicks like browser toolbars and new antivirus software into the installation. Yahoo and Ask toolbars are the most common. Most of the time you can opt out of these so-called bonuses, but if you aren’t careful, you’ll miss it and be greeted by a new application or browser plugin you weren’t bargaining for.
This is reminiscent of Internet Explorer’s much hated prompt, “Would you like to make Internet Explorer your default browser?” No IE, just let us open IE in peace so we can download Chrome already! Aggressive promotions like these are super frustrating. Unfortunately, more technology vendors seem to be adding this strategy to their promotional playbook.
Outdated and Useless Technology Still in Use
Do you know just how easy it is for your business to go paperless? By digitizing your files, utilizing PDFs and digital signatures, and storing documents in the cloud instead of bulky file cabinets, you can very easily bring your office into the 21st century. Yet, printers and even fax machines are commonplace in many modern offices. For many business owners, hanging on to outdated technology is often a move to save money, but this strategy often backfires because outdated equipment ends up costing them more in the long run.
Inconvenient Websites
As the world becomes more connected to the Internet, it becomes more dependent upon websites and browsers. For the most part, this move online is one of convenience, but the functionality of some websites (or the lack thereof), can be a rather maddening experience. Scott Matteson of TechRepublic vents:
Constant updates. Plug-in woes. Websites that require you to log in to proceed to view an article but then take you to the home page when you comply. Browsers that don't save credentials no matter how many times you tell them to. Cumbersome site registration with illegible captchas and the requirement to wait for an email to complete setting up your account. (This is getting a better with the opportunity to log in with social media accounts, I'll admit.) The necessity to log your account ID and password somewhere or else use the same one you use everywhere—which is a BIG no-no. The list goes on.
We couldn’t agree more.
At The Connection, Inc, we experience technology frustrations just like everybody else. Thankfully, our saving grace is that we’ve got the solutions and the knowhow it takes to deal with these frustrations, and we’re happy to pass our technology experience on to you! For help with these four IT frustrations and whatever other technology problems that get you riled up, give us a call at (732) 291-5938.
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