World Password Day is the first Thursday of every May, and your managed services partner in Orange County has gathered some tips from the event that will help you keep your network and personal information secure. Though passwords are the first layer of defense against hackers and other cyber criminals, a vast majority of internet users and businesspeople fail to understand the importance of creating strong passwords and utilizing the proper password etiquette. Here are some tips to increase your password security:

Create Strong Passwords

Most people that we talk to in our managed services firm in Orange County create passwords that they can easily remember. This usually means they don’t include the special characters or capitalizations that are the hallmark of strong passwords. In fact, the two most popular passwords in 2016 were ‘password’ and ‘123456.’ While these might be easy for you to remember when you need them, they’re also easy for hackers to guess.

A strong password is one that has no connection to you— no birthdates or names of pets!— and utilizes numbers, letters, capitals, and special characters.

Do Not Use the Same Password for Multiple Accounts

It might seem like a headache to create and remember separate passwords for each account you access, but it’s necessary. If a hacker is able to crack one of your passwords, they can easily gain access to all of your accounts if you use the same password for all of them. When you create multiple passwords, you stop the hacker at one account and minimize damage.

Use a Password Manager to Help Store and Access Passwords

So how do you remember all of these unique passwords when you need them? Writing them down in a notebook is a bad idea since you would have to keep it on you at all times and it might fall into the hands of someone it shouldn’t.

The answer could be a password manager like 1Password or LastPass. These programs can help you store and encrypt multiple passwords so that you have easy access to them when you need them. You will need one master password for these managers, so make sure it’s a good one!

Be Leery of Browsers that Remember Your Password

When you are in a social media app or shopping online, you’ll often see the prompt ‘remember me on this site?’ It’s very tempting to click ‘yes’ knowing you’ll never again have to remember your username or password when you revisit it. However, if your laptop or smart device ever gets into the wrong hands, it means that anyone can get into these sites and gain access to personal data or payment information. Hackers are also getting adept at cracking these, so you might not be safe even if your devices are not lost or stolen.

There are many takeaways that your team for managed services in Orange County has passed on to clients from World Password Day. The bottom line is, creating strong passwords that are unique to each site you visit or online service you utilize is your first line of defense against cyber criminals. If you have more questions about how to manage your passwords, contact us at Technijian today.

Ravi JainAuthor posts

Technijian was founded in November of 2000 by Ravi Jain with the goal of providing technology support for small to midsize companies. As the company grew in size, it also expanded its services to address the growing needs of its loyal client base. From its humble beginnings as a one-man-IT-shop, Technijian now employs teams of support staff and engineers in domestic and international offices. Technijian’s US-based office provides the primary line of communication for customers, ensuring each customer enjoys the personalized service for which Technijian has become known.

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