Password Security - not a place for sports and swear words!

February 17th 2015

Data security is a topic that has received much press in recent times, mainly thanks to a number of high profile hacks that have taken place. To try to protect your online accounts, you should, at the very least, pick reliable passwords to protect them.

SplashData recently released its annual report of worst passwords, compiled from more than 3.3 million passwords leaked during the year.  

For the 4th year in a row '123456' and 'password' continue to hold the top two spots, positions that they have held since the first list in 2011. 

In addition to highlighting a few passwords that you should probably try to avoid, the report demonstrates the importance of keeping names, simple numeric patterns, sports and swear words out of your passwords.

User Tips for selecting a secure password

• Use passwords of eight characters or more with mixed types of characters including letter, numbers, punctuation and symbols. Complexity can be created by adding upper and lower case letters.

Problems with Employees using the same Username / Password combinations on multiple websites

Research in the UK has indicated that users have up to 26 different online accounts, but that they only have a maximum of 5 different passwords.  With employees reusing corporate passwords on e-commerce sites and social networks, they are putting the corporate networks that they have access to at risk.  

If you are a business owner or an IT administrator concerned about the security of your IT networks, our Two-Factor Authentication solution could be exactly what you need.  It is suited to situations where passwords don't offer enough security and it is proven to prevent unauthorised access to critical data and applications.