Strong and Different Passwords Protect your Digital Life
This week I did my annual corporate security training and I really liked this story to illustrate how important is not to use different and strong passwords
Don’t Let This Happen to You
An online writer and journalist, suffered an identity theft that reads like a real-life horror story. As he describes it:
“In the space of one hour, my entire digital life was destroyed. First my Google account was taken over, then deleted. Next my Twitter account was compromised, and used as a platform to broadcast racist and homophobic messages. And worst of all, my AppleID account was broken into, and my hackers used it to remotely erase all of the data on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.
“In many ways, this was all my fault. My accounts were daisy-chained together. Getting into Amazon let my hackers get into my Apple ID account, which helped them get into Gmail, which gave them access to Twitter…. Those security lapses are my fault, and I deeply, deeply regret them.”
A good first step is learning to create strong passwords. They should be difficult for others to guess but easy for you to remember. A strong password contains
- at least nine characters (more if you can remember them)
- both letters and numbers
- uppercase and lowercase characters
- special characters, such as #, @, !, or $
To protect your digital life, as well as the company’s information systems, follow these simple rules:
- Use a password management tool.
- Never share your passwords—not even with the company’s help desk or IT department.
- Never reuse a password.
- Always create strong passwords.
- Change your password immediately if you think it may have been compromised.
- Use two-factor authentication when possible.
