Cybersecurity Best Practices - Passwords

Managing passwords is the easiest, most impactful thing you can do when it comes to IT security. (And it’s free!)

RESET EVERY 3 MONTHS

• Windows login
• Email/Office 365
• Routers and firewalls
• Other hardware
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
• Marketing automation

PASSWORD MUST-HAVES

• Uppercase and lowercase letters
• Numbers
• Symbols – i.e . !@#$%^&*()

Characteristics of a Strong Password

Long: The longer the password, the harder to crack. While your account may only require 6 to 9 characters, expanding to 12, 16 or more will give you a stronger password.
Passwords to avoid: Superman, Batman, Sunshine, Princess

Not in the dictionary: Avoid single words or common phrases that can be found in the dictionary or vernacular.
Passwords to avoid: 123456789, 111111, Abc123

Character substitutions: Substituting characters for letters is a good practice but think outside of the box. Don’t substitute zero for the letter O and assume you are safe. A better option would be using the ampersand (&) for O.
Passwords to avoid: Football, Baseball, [names of sports teams]

Illogical phrases: While you wouldn’t want to use a common phrase like “ThankYouVeryMuch,” you could string together completely random words like “ThankCheeseBoatsNetwork.”
Passwords to avoid: [personal information], [social media profile content], Iloveyou, welcome

Acronyms and abbreviations: Instead of spelling out words, abbreviate them or replace phrases with acronyms that you can remember. “ThankYouVeryMuch” could become “TkYVreM.” Then add more to it so it’s longer and has a variety of characters.
Passwords to avoid: Qwerty, Password, Password21, Admin

Next Steps for You

Interested in sharpening your Cybersecurity skills, either for upskilling or with the idea of starting a new career? Babbage Simmel’s Comprehensive NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NCSF) Training & CompTIA CySA+ Cybersecurity Analyst Certification Cybersecurity training options will equip you with the skills needed to become an expert in the security field. You will learn comprehensive approaches to protecting your infrastructure, including securing data and information, running risk analysis and mitigation, architecting cloud-based security, achieving compliance and much much more.

Questions about Cybersecurity?  Get in touch!