Internet passwords are one of the banes of modern life. Do you remember your system password? If it’s easy to remember, it’s easy to hack. If it’s hard to remember, you’ve probably written it down, making it easy for the wrong eyes to see it. Finding the perfect password is a never-ending job. Each site has its own requirements of letter/number/symbol combinations for strong passwords, and some require you to change them every month or so. Forgot your password? No problem. Just answer a few emotionally charged security questions: “What was the name of your first pet (who is now dead),” “Who did you take to the prom (didn’t go),” “Who was the best man at your wedding (which wedding?). Imagine how much time, frustration, and existential angst you’d save if you didn’t have to deal with passwords!
FREE fixes for password security
Most of us can improve password security immediately and at no cost using simple and well-known guidelines:
· Create long, complex passwords with different character types and change them often
· Don’t share passwords with others or leave them in accessible places: sticky notes, bulletin boards, or in computer documents
· Use different passwords for different sites and for different users.
· Do not give employees higher levels of administrative access than they need for their jobs.
None of this requires a graduate degree but it is time-consuming, requires periodic maintenance, and depends upon cooperation from all users. Under pressure to work efficiently, it’s not surprising that many people save precious minutes by ignoring some of these best practices.
Save time with a password manager
For anyone whose work and leisure takes them to lots of sites, a password manager is a no-brainer. It’s simply a program that generates and manages encrypted passwords for everything you do online. Just remember one master password and the PM automatically fills in unique strong passwords for every app you use. Not only does this make it harder for hackers to crack your password or use keystroke logging, it also defends against phishing schemes and counterfeit sites by verifying the URL before it enters your information.
The downside is significant, because if your master password is not strong and kept secret, a hacker can gain access to your password manager and all your sites. However, since you only have to
keep up with guarding ONE vitally important password, presumably you’ll be motivated to follow best practices for password security to the letter.
Which password manager is right for you?
There are a lot of options to choose from, including some that are completely free. PC Magazine’s recommendations for 2021 include Keeper, Zoho, Dashlane, and LastPass. Can’t decide? Ascend Technology Group has researched the options and recommends LastPass. In addition to generating complex passwords, LastPass monitors for Dark Web hacker activity on your system. It also has a nice feature allowing users to send encrypted notes to each other with sensitive information, such as passwords, account numbers . . . or the time and place of a surprise birthday party. Best of all, LastPass plans start at FREE and go as high as $6/mo. for a premium business plan—a miniscule investment that will more than pay for itself not only in preventing hypothetical data breaches, but in the very real losses in productivity your business is taking today as employees wrangle passwords. Contact Ascend Technology Group for advice about your specific situation and how to get LastPass installed on all your systems.
