W
ith almost half of us using the same password for everything at work and half of us claiming to know the password of at least one other colleague, it’s no surprise that an increasing number of business are at risk of being hacked or leaking confidential data. Cyber threats are at an all-time high and laissez-faire attitudes leave organisations exposed to potential fines and reputational damage. There’s a wealth of information on the sophisticated ways to prevent cyber crime but, sometimes, the basics get forgotten…
- Just under one in 10 say that don’t even have a password for protecting their work device – if this is the case, get it sorted ASAP!
- Dates of birth, spouses’ names and children’s names form the basis of many passwords – get creative and ensure your keywords can’t be easily researched by a hacker. Using a mix of upper and lowercase letters, symbols and numbers immediately intensifies a password.
- And, if there isn’t already, suggest the boss has a password policy drawn up so that everyone’s data is as protected as possible.
- Does your company change passwords for key digital accounts and services when a member of staff leaves? If not, you’re at risk of ex-employees continuing to access confidential information.
- Consider modern approaches – has the boss looked into two-factor authentication? This means a second, randomised passcode will be sent to the user via another device for unique input.