5 Cybersecurity Tips to Remember on National Password Day

Keeping your accounts secure should always be a priority – but are you really doing enough to protect your information? 

On this National Password Day, we urge you to seriously reconsider the effectiveness of your current password protection. Celebrated annually on the first Thursday in May, National Password Day shines a much-needed light on the importance of layering up the security of your passwords and the accounts they are put in place to guard.  

Poor password management can leave your information exposed, placing you – and your business – at risk. Let’s take a look at a few tips and tricks you could implement this National Password Day to bolster your first line of digital defense.  

Create Strong, Complex Passwords  

Whether intended for your email, payroll portals, or even social media profiles, creating a strong password is vital to keeping your accounts secure. And while it’s certainly tempting to use something memorable when setting up a login, chances are that the name of your childhood pet just isn’t going to cut it.  

Sorry, Fido.  

Instead, consider avoiding common phrases and words to further safeguard from potential threats. Adding numbers or symbols, mixing lowercase and uppercase letters, and using at least twelve characters can also reinforce your password’s protective capabilities.  

Avoid Using the Same Password for Multiple Accounts 

Regardless of a password’s complexity, it’s always within your best interests to use distinctive passwords for each of your online accounts. In doing so, you establish more durable boundaries for your information, curbing the chances all your accounts will be compromised after one breach.  

Consider Password Management Tools 

Remembering multiple, intricate passwords can be difficult. If you find yourself concerned about your ability to keep track of your passwords, consider using a password management tool as part of your cybersecurity program.  

Password management tools such as LastPass can help you create, access, and manage strong passwords across several accounts and devices simultaneously. Entrusting your password protection to an outside source may be intimidating but doing so will ultimately lessen the appeal of reusing passwords and, in the long run, will enhance your protection.  

Employ a Two-Factor Authentication System 

Though proper password set-up is obviously important for the safety of your sensitive information, traditional password protection simply isn’t enough anymore.  

Keep your security up-to-date by setting up two-factor authentication on your accounts. Also known as 2FA, two-factor authentication systems use both your password and a separate device or token to log users into their accounts.  

After entering your password correctly, 2FA will send a push notification to your mobile device, use Touch ID technology, or send you an SMS code to ensure that the user attempting to access the account is, in fact, the account’s owner.  

Employing two-factor authentication on all your accounts can serve to further reduce risk of identity theft, boost your overall protection, and even increase productivity by allowing access to accounts from multiple devices.  

Backup Your Data on the Regular 

Despite your best efforts, security breaches can still happen. So, in addition to strengthening your password protection, might we suggest taking the time to backup your data as well? 

Building a system that regularly – and securely – backs your information up will guarantee that, if your defenses fail, your data can still be accessed.  

Are Your Accounts Really Secure?  

Proper password protection is just the first step in creating a cybersecurity system that works for you. To learn more about what other security methods could help protect your information this National Password Day, visit EMPIST online.  

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