Top 3 Worst Password Mistakes Small Businesses Make

Three huge but common password disasters are being committed every day by staff all over the world, even in Tri-Cities, WA.

And now, IT experts are warning small businesses owners to check for them… then take urgent action to protect their businesses data… and their employee’s. We see these disasters happening all the time because people don’t realize how dangerous they are. Recently, a major credit bureau was hacked in South Africa because its server’s password was the word ‘password’. And data was also stolen from graphics card maker NVIDIA, as one of most common passwords used by its employees was… ‘nvidia’. These big business disasters are easy to laugh at. But we see disasters like these being made by staff working for small businesses in Tri-Cities every day.

IT Haven’s Top Three Password Disasters are:

Here are the top three mistakes people make when choosing a password:

1. Using easy to guess passwords such as ‘password’, ‘qwerty’ or ‘123456’. These can be cracked in seconds by automated cyber-crime software;
2. Using the same password across multiple applications;
3. Writing down passwords, or sharing them with others.

Cyber criminals are targeting all Tri-Cities businesses all the time, using automated software to find weaknesses and exploit them, so having a complicated password can save your business massive headaches down the line. Making any these password disasters is the data security equivalent of leaving the key in your house’s front door, next to a giant sign saying, ‘come in, valuables upstairs’.

Best Tools for Managing Passwords

At IT Haven, we recommend that all local businesses use a password manager. This is software that generates long random unique passwords – and then remembers them, so humans don’t have to.

Making the password random and long reduces the likelihood of a successful brute force attack, which is when the password is guessed by software by trying lots of common combinations of keys and phrases.

Replacing a six character password with a 12 character one makes it 62 trillion times longer to crack.

IT Outsourcing and Cyber Security You Can Trust – IT Haven

IT Haven specializes in outsourcing IT services to support local businesses in the Tri-Cities and help manage their cyber security. We engage in relationships with our clients and aim to provide the best customer relationship we can to ensure your business is growing while the technology around you grows. Give us a call today at 509-972-6375 or fill out our online contact form.