Cybersecurity Awareness Month - Week 1
Use Strong Passwords and Password Managers
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Each Monday in October, we cover one short topic on practical ways to stay safer online. This week’s focus: strong, unique passwords and a password manager.
You do not have to be technical to make a cybercriminal’s job harder. Small habits are often enough. They leave empty-handed. You keep using the internet for work, shopping, and everyday life.
Allow us to introduce you to the first cybercriminal...
Meet dpxaker
Long, unique passwords are too much work for him!
Dariy Pankov, known among hackers as “dpxaker,” paid for his lavish lifestyle by selling password-cracking software to criminals for just $250 – no subscription required. Powered by his program, hackers don’t have to sit in a dark room guessing passwords one at a time – dpxaker’s software and AI tests thousands of password combinations every second. These hackers love pet names and birthdays – they really love short passwords and reused passwords!
DON’T MAKE LIFE EASY FOR DPXAKER
Every password should be at least 16 characters long
Every password needs to be unique to the account
Every password should be a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols
Use a password manager to create and store awesome passwords – they are safe, easy to use, and many are even free!
An 8-character password can be cracked in seconds, no matter how many &s and !s you use. A complex 16-character password takes billions of years to crack – and hackers don’t have that kind of time!
Make life difficult for Cybersecurity Criminals
You don’t need to know how all the scams work. You don’t need expensive tools. You don’t need to be an expert. Here’s what you should do to Stay Safe Online:
Every password should be at least 16 characters long, unique to the account, and a random mix of letters, numbers, and symbols
Use a password manager to create and store your passwords
Enable multifactor authentication for every account
Keep your software updated
Scrutinize every unexpected inbound message, especially if it seems urgent or requests payment