Change your password to a passphrase for added security

Have you ever created a login, been prompted to enter a password featuring symbols, capital letters, your next door neighbour’s maiden name and at least one number, only to completely forget it the next time you login? Which means you have to go through the whole painful process again? Well, you’re not alone.
Passwords are a pain, but Ward Solutions is all about removing complexity when it comes to information security. We’ve put together some helpful tips from Edward Snowden, the man notorious for leaking classified information from the US National Security Agency to the media!
John Oliver, an English writer and comedian with his own show in the US, journeyed to Russia to interview Snowden about information security, data protection and cyberattacks, and this is what he discovered.
Password security
Both Oliver and Snowden agreed that as hacking is a huge concern for businesses and consumers globally, it is vital that internet users are educated on password security.
Remembering logins and usernames for various accounts and devices isn’t easy, which is why people often use an easy to remember word with five to eight characters as their password. According to Snowden, this is a big mistake.
“Bad passwords are one of the easiest ways to compromise a system. For someone who has a very common eight character password, it can take less than a second for a computer to go through the possibilities and pull that password out,” he explained.
Passphrase, instead of password
What to do? Well if your password is “Password123”, “passwerd” or some other variation, change it immediately!
“The best advice here is to shift your thinking from passwords to passphrases,” Snowden continued.
“Think about a passphrase that works for you, that is too long to brute force, and that is also unlikely to be in the dictionary.”
Margaretthatcheris110%sexy
Many logins require a mixture of characters, numbers and capital letters, but as Edward Snowden points out, it can be difficult to recall these.
“It can be a lot harder to remember a password that is 13 characters long, with upper case and lower case letters, characters and numbers, than it is to remember a simple phrase like maragaretthatcheris110%sexy,” he said.
Go on, make the change
So if you think your weak password could compromise the safety of your personal or business data, change it to a passphrase you can remember easily! It’s one easy step that will help protect your IT systems. Remember, if you need more advice on protecting your IT systems, get in touch with the team at Ward.
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