In honor of World Password Day on May 7th, this blog will be dedicated to discussing multi-factor authentication, the benefits of having a strong password on all of your accounts, and what a strong password is. Whether it is a social media account or a bank account, having a strong password is extremely important for many reasons – especially in today’s cybercrime climate.
We want to shed light on a fairly new system in technology that not all users are familiar with. This is called “multi-factor authentication.” This essentially adds another layer of accessing your accounts, so once you type in your password you would be required to go to a separate application to authenticate your login. This is a great form of protection to your accounts because not only does it make your accounts less accessible to cybercriminals, but it also provides you with an alert and notifies you when someone else is trying to access your account. The trending hashtag for World Password Day this year is #LayerUp, encouraging multi-factor authentication for everyone and every business.
Using strong passwords across all of your accounts is very important for many reasons. It reduces the risk of your account being hacked, your information or identity being stolen, your computer getting infected by spyware or ransomware, and much more. But you get the idea. The general reason you need to have strong passwords is for you and your family’s, your company’s, or your employee’s safety. It is also important to not use the same password for several accounts. If you use the same password for many accounts, and a hacker figures out your password to one, they essentially have access to all of your accounts.
So, what makes a password strong? The general characteristics of a strong password are at least seven characters in length, contains uppercase and lowercase letters, contains at least one number, contains a special character (like a period, exclamation mark, and so on), and does not contain any of your personal information like your name or birthdate.
At Integracon, we pride ourselves on the top-of-the-line IT security solutions that we offer our clients. If you would like to learn more about what Integracon can offer your business, visit our website for more information, or give us a call. We look forward to hearing from you.
