When was the last time you double-checked your 密码s and any associated policies and best practices? After all, they are a key line of defense in your cybersecurity posture.
How Strong Do You Think Your Passwords Are?
While you may not have had an account hacked into because of an easily guessed 密码 yet, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t still consider your 密码s carefully. Despite the fact that 密码s are the most direct way to access a user’s private information, most 密码s in use today are not considered to be strong or complex enough.
密码保护电子邮件帐户, 银行信息, 私人的文件, administrator rights and more—and yet, user after user and business after business continue to make critical errors when it comes to choosing and protecting their 密码s.
We all know how frustrating it is when trying to pick a 密码 for a new account you’re setting up and the site keeps telling you it doesn’t meet all the criteria:
- 它需要有数字.
- 它需要有符号.
- 它需要有一定的长度.
- It can’t be the same as your last 密码.
诸如此类. It feels like this never ends—and 真的, is all this fuss over 密码s truly necessary?
简短的回答?
Yes—in fact, just last year a report showed that 86% of more than 2 million breached 密码s were identical to 密码s that had already been breached.
How is this possible, if everyone’s 密码s are long, complex and unique? Hint-they不.
The top 10 most common and repeatedly breached 密码s in this report include:
- 123456
- 123456789
- Qwerty
- 密码
- 111111
- 12345678
- abc123
- 密码
- 1234567
- 12345
The question is—are any of the above one of your 密码s? Even if they’re not, are you making a similar error with any of your 密码s?
Are Making These Mistakes With Your Passwords?
Find out for sure by considering these 4 common 密码 mistakes:
长度和复杂性
Keep in mind that the easier it is for you to remember a 密码, the easier it’ll be for a hacker to figure it out. That’s why short and simple 密码s are so common—users worry about forgetting them, so they make them too easy to remember, which presents an easy target for hackers.
数字、大小写和符号
Another factor in the 密码’s complexity is whether or not it incorporates numbers, 情况下, 和符号. While it may be easier to remember a 密码 that’s all lowercase letters, 把数字混在一起很重要, 首都, 和符号 in order to increase the complexity.
个人信息
Many users assume that information specific to them will be more secure—the thinking, 例如, is that your birthday is one of 365 possible options in a calendar year, not to mention your birth year itself. The same methodology applies to your pet’s name, your mother’s maiden name, 等.
然而, given the ubiquity of social media, it’s not difficult for hackers to research a target through Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites to determine when they were born, 家庭情况, 个人利益, 等.
模式与序列
和其他常见错误一样, many people use patterns as 密码s in order to better remember them, 但是再一次, that makes the 密码 真的 easy to guess. “abc123”, or the first row of letters on the keyboard, “qwerty”, 等., are extremely easy for hackers to guess.
意图dy To Put Your Passwords To The Test?
It’s one thing to skim over a list of common 密码 mistakes and assume you’re probably still OK.
确定, maybe that one 密码 is based on your pet’s name, or maybe that other 密码 doesn’t have any 首都 or numbers—what’s the big deal, 真的?
If you feel good about the security of your test let’s put it to the test.
Click here to test how secure your 密码 is—take a few minutes and try a few.
你做得怎么样??
Probably not as well as you’d hoped, right? The reality is that truly complex 密码s can be difficult to come up with, and even more difficult to remember.
That’s why a Password Manager is so useful…
什么是密码管理器?
One of the best ways to maintain complex 密码s is with a 密码 manager. Password managers are the key to keeping your 密码s secure.
密码管理器生成, keeps track of and retrieves complex and long 密码s for you to protect your vital online information. It also remembers your PINS, credit card numbers and three-digit CVV codes if you choose this option.
Plus, it provides answers to security questions for you. All of this is done with strong encryption that makes it difficult for hackers to decipher. Find out more about managers in our next blog post.
Don’t Let A Weak Password Put You At Risk
In the end, creating and using strong 密码s can be frustrating, but it’s incredibly important. Privacy and security are major concerns for personal users and businesses alike these days, and so you have to be sure that you aren’t making it easy for hackers to access you or your business’ private data. 我们在意图 & 比较靠谱的赌博软件的团队 is always here to help and answer any additional questions you may have about the importance of strong 密码s.
By 杰夫·拉普，MSCE 紧密(办公室)