We all make jokes about how difficult it is to make passwords now-a-days with all the rules and guidelines. Think about it; you need 8 characters minimum, 2 symbols, 1 upper case letter and your first-born child social security number just to create a password. It’s all fun and games until your personal information is compromised. How seriously do you take your password protection?
As small business owners all it takes is one hack into your system to ruin your business. In the last year we have seen major companies such as Neiman Marcus and Target have security breaches. Hackers really don’t care if your business is at a Neiman Marcus level or a mom & pop. It’s about compromising the system and getting what they need.
Say No To Default Admin Username
WordPress creates accounts with admin as the default username when you launch company sites or blogs. This is the easiest way for cyber criminals to get into your system and cause havoc.
Here is a step by step guide on how to change your default admin name:
Mantras As Passwords
Last week, I read the article, “How A Password Changed My Life“, on the Huffington Post. This article was so amazing to me that I shared it on social media and even emailed it to several friends. To be honest, I never even thought how important it is to have a mantra in my password. Like the man in the article, I’m constantly having to retype in my password throughout the day. Subconsciously, you are saying this powerful phrase over and over in your head. Why not make it a positive one that can change your life. I really love how he had one to FaceTime his mom and then to propose to his girlfriend. Change your life through a mantra password.
Remove Auto Logins
Are you the person who presses the “remember this computer or device” when logging into your account. This is a huge “No No” also. So many of us are logged in when we are out and about verses at home. When out and about you are usually on a wi-fi network with countless others that can infiltrated your system. Yes it’s convenient at the time, however, it won’t be all that fun when Jamal in England steals all your money because you logged on an open source wi-fi network.
I recently read, “The 25 Most Popular Passwords“, and did a complete Eek! because a portion of a password I use is on the list. I didn’t think it was common; guess I was wrong. If you want to test out the strength of your password I would check out How Secure Is My Password. It will tell you how long it will take for someone to crack it.
How strong is your password and have you put much thought into it since you created it. I’m going to change mine right now.
