In an age of increased cyber threats and, as a consequence, cyber security measures, passwords may seem like a simple and unimportant first measure in a line of more complex and effective security protocols. However, having a strong password is absolutely essential as a first line of defence in protecting your possessions and personal information.
Passwords are the first hurdle which can provide an effective deterrent or delay for those with malicious intent hoping to access your accounts. Providing an additional safeguard, strong passwords often dramatically increase the success of more complex security measures which come after them, so are definitely worth looking after and being aware of.
While many people have come to understand that “obvious” passwords, such as those which copy a keyboard pattern like ‘QWERTY’, or common passwords such as ‘password’, or ‘ABC123’, many alternatives may not be that much more secure. Using names – be they your own or a member of your family’s – addresses, birthdays or similar are often the second guess of most hackers and are easy to access. Additionally and perhaps most importantly, repeating the same password across most or all of your accounts – a common error – results in more likely and more successful cyber attacks.
For those concerned about remembering both a more complex password and well as varying strong passwords across multiple accounts, password managers are a really great option. While there have been some security breaches with specific password managers, most password managers have increased security protocols and are much more secure than listing these on pieces of paper or on notes in your phone or computer.
Experts recommend strong passwords that are between 12-15 characters as the most effective, with a mixture of special characters, capitals, lowercase letters and numbers. Importantly, they also stress the need to space out special characters, suggesting that users should copy the model used by online gamers, called “leet speak”, or “L33t $p3@k”.
The pandemic has left online security more important, with more hacking and phishing attempts recorded than ever before. In the UK, businesses lost over £6.2 million to cyber scams over 2020, with a 31% increase between the height of the pandemic (May-June). In the USA, the FBI reported a staggering 400% rise in online attacks, including fraud, phishing, and hacking. Passwords, and strong passwords especially, are more important than ever.
