Password theft and hacking: Preventive steps to consider
Hackers often rely on existing security flaws and vulnerabilities to attack businesses. In last couple of years, almost every industry has faced cyberattacks, and these threats seem to evolve with time. Password hacking & theft remains one of the key tools for hackers, but the good news is preventive steps can go a long way in prevent such hack incidents. In this post, we are sharing some of the basic preventive measures that businesses can consider for better password protection.
- Focus on strong passwords. A strong password is long with at least 10 to 12 characters, will have special characters, uppercase and lowercase letters, and numbers. Ask your employees to create strong passwords for every networked device and system.
- Change default details. From the default username to passwords, everything should be changed right after a product is deployed. The list includes all kinds of products, right from software, apps, to IP cameras and video surveillance systems.
- Recommend a password manager. Keep in mind that employees are human, and for them, remembering too many complex passwords is never possible. To avoid the same, ask them to use a reliable (if required, paid) password management tool.
- Use the lockout feature. In recent years, many hackers have been attempting brute force attacks, for which lockout feature can be handy. This feature will lock a device or account, if too many invalid login attempts are made.
- Consider multifactor authentication. You can think of two or three-layer password protection, which could include a security code or question, or sometimes, even the biometrics of the user.
- Never reuse passwords. Often employees end up being lazy, and they may reuse the same password for many accounts and devices. Ensure that you discourage this practice. There shouldn’t any password sharing in any form or manner. Also, old passwords must not be reused again.
Your people matter
Cybersecurity depends largely on employees, and you may want to train them for the changing landscape. Ensure that they know of password protection, and their role in the same. If required, get cybersecurity experts onboard, who will conduct workshops and offer advice on how to handle passwords safely. Also, beyond passwords, focus on protection of computers, networks, servers and other networked devices, for which firewalls and network segmentation can be considered.
Check online now to find the best password managers, and make sure that your employees have all the necessary protocols on paper, so that they don’t make unwanted mistakes.