PASSWORD REUSE – HACKER’S PARADISE
Remembering passwords has become a source of frustration for many users, but password protection has become more important than ever. Reusing passwords across different platforms is risky. Think of it this way; would you even consider having ONE key to unlock your house, start your cars, open your bank safety deposit box, and your office? Absolutely NOT! You could lose everything if that key was lost or duplicated. Transfer this idea to password reuse. Hackers could easily access many different applications if you are using a duplicate password.
This link from The Verge, an American technology news website, shows a map of TEN YEARS OF BREACHES IN ONE IMAGE. (Russell Brandom, 2021) You can see the number of breaches growing through the years and coming faster and faster between 2011 and 2021. The cumulative breached accounts have grown from over 100,000,000 starting with 2011 to over 7,700,000,000 leading into 2021.
Now think about how your reuse of passwords could have a domino effect if you use the same password for multiple applications. You’ve just given the hackers a key to multiple accounts.
THINK about these tips when creating/updating passwords:
- Use a unique password for each account you create.
- Don’t use your name, birthday, anniversary, street address or anything that might easily be discovered by hackers.
- Create long passwords that contain letters, numbers, and special characters. They are harder to crack.
- Try using a phrase or lyrics from your favorite movie or song. Add random characters, but don’t replace them in easy patterns.
- Avoid weak, commonly used passwords like asd123, password1, or Temp!
- Avoid using similar passwords that change only a single word or character.
- Change your passwords often.
- Never share your passwords via email or text message.
If you have any questions or anything that you need help with, please feel free to reach out to NGT @ http://www.ngthelp.com/ for our help desk staff.