In the modern world, the security threat is real. As I discussed in the previous post, both physical security and online security are fundamental in our lives since both threats are real threats that can either kill us or harm us or our families. In most cases, both physical threats and online threats seek to take our hard-earned money from us. Because of those threats, both physical and online security are fundamental.
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| Both, physical and online security are fundamental |
I assume that the majority of people who have smartphones or computers, and also the person who is reading this post have passwords. Passwords are the first method by which we protect our privacy online. Passwords safeguard our gateways. Passwords are used on email accounts, bank accounts, Spotify accounts and many other products. Almost all accounts have passwords, to keep up with the fact of being an account.
Even though we have passwords for our accounts, the threat is still there. Hackers and fraudsters will always try and find a way to break into our online accounts and even into our computers, phones, tablets, or iPads in order to unleash the threats we’ve already discussed above. This is why there is a need for education when pertaining to online accounts and passwords, as far as online security or digital security is concerned.
Password Hygiene
The word hygiene denotes maintenance of cleanliness and clean habits, so the ITC industry formulated the phrase password hygiene. Following the same idea behind this two words phrase, one may simply come to the conclusion that the phrase password hygiene refers to the fact that the password is strong and it's logical so that it can be easily remembered. The gist behind this phrase is that a password can be exposed to a hacker or can be easily guessed, so the practice of maintaining password hygiene entails:
a) Strong and Unique Passwords: People love to use simple and weak passwords. This gives them the sense that they will easily remember their password, but just as they make it easier to remember, they also tend to make it easier to guess. People love to write their date of birth, their ID numbers, and their siblings' names, but those are first to be guessed. Each person could think of a particular format by which they write their passwords. The format could make it easier for them to remember the passwords, but since it's their original idea it can become harder to steal.
b) Password Managers: These days our digital presence is more present than before, some people literally live online, and as a result, the number of passwords that need to be managed by us (the users) keeps growing. Some password managers are LastPass, Dashlane, and KeePass.
c) Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): The 2FA is an additional layer of security, on top of the password. Even if someone gets access to our password and username, they will still be demanded to key in the 2FA. Famous 2FA companies that provide 2FA apps are Microsoft and Google. Also, there is SMS-based 2FA, where a company or portal to which the user is logging in provides an OTP (one-time pin). Facebook allows either 2FA app or 2FA SMS.
d) Regular Password Updates: To play our role in making sure that our information is secured online, we must make sure that we update our passwords every three or six months. This helps when there is a data breach in the companies on which we are logged on or when we have been careless with our passwords, without realizing it.
e) Unique Passwords for Each Account: This is a no-brainer, we must not use the same password in all the accounts we have. Anyone can guess the consequences, should there be a password leak or a hack.
Let's meet on the next post. I will be sharing with you about the concept of encryption.
Hopefully, this article, on password hygiene provided you with much-needed insight on the subject of password management.
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