Posted on: Jun 28, 2022 | 3 mins | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

9 Rules to Follow to Keep Your Password Secure

Cybersecurity Questions for Small Business

When you look back on the time you created the passwords for your social media platforms or email account, you were advised to create a complex and unique password to protect the information. Password security plays an indispensable part in securing your data as cyber hackers find innovative ways to access your accounts and software applications to get ahold of your data. Cyber insurance is the best way to protect sensitive data and save yourself from financial trouble in case of any cyber threats such as ransomware, data breach, phishing attacks, etc.

To be proactive, online users should follow innovative and new ways to create unique and strong passwords to keep their personal information protected. This is where the role of a complete guide on creating strong passwords comes into play. In this blog, you will get to know how to create a strong password. What is the importance of password security? How can your accounts be hacked by cybercriminals? and so on. Along with this, you will know how stolen passwords have affected individuals as well as businesses, along with a few password security tips that will help you to ensure cyber security.

How to create a strong password for your accounts?

In this decade, you may be quite familiar with the connection between passwords and security. If you want to keep your software, accounts, and data safe from any unauthorized access, you should know how to create a strong password. Well, here are a few tips to create it without any hassle while keeping your passwords secure:

1. Say a big NO to using personal information:

When you create a strong password, you should never use your personal information such as names of family members, birthdays, addresses, contact numbers, etc. In fact, you should ideally keep a very random password which could be easy for you, but very difficult for others to guess.

2. Use the combinations of alphabetical letters, numbers, and special characters:

You can secure your data by making a password which is the combination of the letters, numbers, and symbols, that makes the password stronger and more complex. Ideally, you should use a number in between the alphabet letters to make it more secure.

3. Long passwords are useful:

It is important to prioritize the password length. The password length of your account can also play a major role in its security. If your password is at least 16 characters long, there are fewer chances of cyber attack and any data breach.

4. Avoid repetition of passwords:

Many people have a habit of keeping the same passwords for different accounts. But it can put the data at risk for credential stuffing, which is used by many cyber hackers.

5. Do not use the real words:

Commonly, cyber hackers use certain malicious programs that involve the words available in the dictionary to crack the user passwords. It is recommended to not use the proper nouns and dictionary words that can make your password unsecured.

6. Randomize sequences and patterns:

When you create a password, try to randomize sequences and patterns of letters, numbers, and special characters to protect your accounts from the passed straying attacks.

7. Never share your password with anyone:

If you share your password with your friends or family, it means that you are compromising your cybersecurity. You never know when and how your password gets used by cyber hackers if they are shared somewhere without your knowledge.

8. Do not use public Wi-Fi:

When you use a public Wi-Fi That is not encrypted with a VPN, You allow cybercriminals to track your online activities and that can lead to exposure data which even involves your credentials of several accounts.

9. Consider checking your password strength:

You can install a good password strength checker which includes LastPass, that will allow you to check the strength and effectiveness of the password you have created.

What's the Importance of Password Security?

When more than 68% of people use the same password again for multiple accounts, it is important to think about password security. Cybercriminals use new techniques to steal your personal details, putting your data and other information a risk.

When you ignore password security, invite hackers to breach your network and access your data. There are many cyber threats that happen due to weak passwords and poor password security. These cyber-threats include:

● Identity Theft

● Data Breaches

● Blackmail

● Computer Hijacking

● Privacy Loss

What are the Password Security Tips that you should keep in MInd?

Many individuals and businesses face cyber threats such as data breaches, where weak password protection comes as one of the major factors for it. In such a scenario, creating and managing the best passwords are helpful to be protected and alerted from any kind of data breach.

Gone are the days, when creating just 8 characters long passwords was enough to keep the data secure, now, it is important to use long passwords with at least 16 characters.

Poor password security not only causes cyber threats but also causes financial troubles. Cybercriminals use ransomware by accessing your personal information including personal baking devices. Many businesses lose millions of dollars due to cyber attacks. Here are two important things you can do as an initial step for password security:

A. Install a good password manager:

There are many password managers available online, you can choose the trusted one to organize and ideate to manage your passwords. You can write your passwords securely in an excel, which again needs to be password protected or on a writing pad, for your backup.

B. Change your password regularly:

Changing your passwords regularly for all your accounts means you are taking important preventive steps against cyber attacks. It will help you to keep your data and software safe. This is especially important for sensitive data.

How do Cyber hackers access your password?

You might have done all the necessary checks, but cyber hackers use a variety of techniques to crack your password. Some techniques that are commonly used by hackers involve password spraying credential stuffing, phishing scams, keylogging, and even dictionary attacks.

Conclusion

Creating a strong password and maintaining password security is important, but it is not the end of solving the cybersecurity puzzle. To ensure the cybersecurity of your system, data, and devices, you should think from various points to stay away from any hacks or unauthorized access to the data. From continuously monitoring your data to using a firewall, and to hiring a cybersecurity expert, there are many ways you can address any suspicious activity happening with your device. Having this mindset will help you deal with the tricks used by cybercriminals to access your data and harm your personal identity.

Apart from this, having cyber insurance is another way to keep your data and devices protected from various cyber-attacks. Whether you are an individual dealing with a lot of personal data, or a business with a huge data of clients, businesses, and even the employees, having cyber insurance helps you get peace of mind. Even in the event of cyber theft, cyber insurance will save you from losing an unexpected amount due to inadequate password security.

There are many companies that offer the best cyber insurance services to businesses that hold sensitive information about their clients and employees. Availability of the suitable one can be helpful to ensure the growth of the organization without any stress of financial loss and data privacy.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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