The Problem With Your Password

Would you call your passwords to the various accounts you have online secure? It depends on how many characters your password is, if you use upper and lower case letters, symbols and numbers, if you use full words, recognizable names or places from your life and whether you reuse passwords on multiple sites.

Ping Identity’s Christine Bevilacqua published a blog along with the included infographic that speaks to the problem with password security.

Many of us have experienced a compromised online account and a broken password is often to blame. There is software readily available that is capable of breaking even incredibly long passwords. Sometimes, the strength of your password isn’t even the issue.

In the case of the latest attack on the New York Times, a spear phishing scam resulted in an employee giving out their password. Cyber criminals have become increasing intelligent about creating ways to hack into your accounts.

If you aren’t scammed into giving out your password outright, you may be guilty of clicking a link or downloading an attachment you shouldn’t have. This could infect your computer with malware capable of monitoring your activity, stealing passwords and infiltrating your accounts.

Some online accounts are moving to require a log-in with social media accounts, but what protects your social media accounts? A password does.

One of the latest innovations on the new iPhone is the use of biometrics. In order to unlock the phone, users will use their fingerprint. This seems like a foolproof plan. Afterall, no one will be able to hack into your phone unless they have your fingerprint. However, the problem becomes the unreliability of biometrics. For example, what happens if an error occurs and your phone won’t recognize your fingerprint? For most similar systems, the fall back is simple password protection, which brings us back to square one in terms of security.

The key to avoiding a hacker cracking your password is to practice safe surfing techniques and to have the latest security software in place.

To make any of your devices more secure, contact Geek Rescue at 918-369-4335.