It seems that every day you hear about a company or a  high profile individual that has had private information stolen as a result from being hacked. Many people have their data compromised due to poor IT security measures and often it is as simple as a weak password.

One of the easiest ways you can protect your data is by making sure you and your employees have strong passwords. For those unfamiliar with what a strong password is and why it is important, we will review this simple but important security measure.

Let’s review a few differences between a weak password and a strong password:

Strong Passwords

• Utilize both uppercase and lowercase letters
• A mix of letters, numbers, and symbols
• Letters should be mixed lower and upper case

 Weak Passwords

• Simple, common phrases that are easy to guess, such as: “ password” or the name of your company should never be considered
• Dates; such as birth dates are always poor choices can easily be figured out
• 7 characters or less increases the chances of a password being randomly hacked

Also you never want to leave your passwords and usernames in default using words such as “admin” and “guest”. A fast way to create a strong random password is by using a password generator. If you do a Google search there are many to choose from.

By committing to the use of strong passwords, you are already emphasizing IT security for your business. Your customers expect that their critical information is secure. If your customers feel that this trust is violated in any way, they will go somewhere else.

Need even more security? Our highly experienced and customer focused staff will provide answers for you. As an IT company focused on security and IT support, we constantly want to help you deter hackers and other criminals from accessing vital information. We work around the clock to make sure our customers’ data is safe and secure from hackers and other thieves. Contact us now to learn how we can help.

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