How safe are your passwords?

How safe are your passwords? Celebrate World Password Day by sharing some of your password tips!

Every year, security researchers reveal what the worst passwords that have been leaked online. Bad passwords that appeared in the top 25 for 2015 include “starwars,” “solo” and “princess” as well as the usual “password”, “123456”, and “qwerty.”

Did you know that security experts estimate that 90% of passwords are susceptible to hacking? Not even the most strongest and secure of passwords cannot guarantee protection against hackers.

Bruce Snell, Technical Director at Intel Security, said that the problem is that many companies do not encrypt the passwords they store online, which leaves them vulnerable to hacks.

Companies such as Sony and Target recently were in the spotlight for their poor encryption methods, and many other companies have been through similar instances. Using encryption can make a huge impact to your personal security, which Snell disclosing that a very simple encryption algorithm would take a hacker many years to try and unravel.

Here are some handy password hints to keep you protected.

Billy Austin, Vice President of Security at LOGICnow, suggests that you:

1. Use a Password Manager to make up and store passwords. Password Managers help employees generate sophisticated & unique passwords for each login.

2. Make sure to change all your default passwords i.e. changing the username from ‘Admin’ and password from ‘Password’.

3. Remove all account IDs and Passwords from ex-employees to prevent unauthorised access.