A password is needed just about anytime you are conducting any type of transaction on the internet. How to remember all the passwords is the tricky part. One insufficient solution many people choose is to keep them simple or use the same one over and over.
However, owning a small business means owning data and understanding the security required to protect the data. New information is constantly acquired related to your customers, your financial details, and all the vendors and contractors with whom you work. All it takes is one hacker with sophisticated software and you could expose your business in a way you never wanted to. From lost trust among your clients to costly lawsuits for the damage done, protecting your company from data theft is among your most important responsibilities. At C4 Operations we take security seriously, and that is why we use a multi-factor authentication process. When you log in to our website, you will be sent a text or email to authenticate the computer you are working on. This added layer helps protect your account but it also needs to work with a strong password. With a secure password strategy, you’re well on your way to foiling online attacks.
So how do you protect yourself? Be Smart and Be Aware.
If you want to avoid weak passwords at your work and in your personal life here are six passwords you should never use:
Password
The number one and most common bad choice. Some people think using variations such as P@ssword and P@55w0rd! should work but so do the cyber hackers. They might be easy to remember, but they’re also among the first options hackers will try.
QWERTY or 12345
The sequence of letters or numbers might seem like a good option because they’re simple to remember. That is where this idea originated. You can only count on passwords such as these to expose your business to digital theft.
BusinessName1
If your shop is called Petra’s Flowers, don’t set your password as petrasflowers1. That would be an early choice for hackers looking to break into your valuable data.
Business Address
Skip this one entirely, when it comes to passwords. Don’t even try mashing together similar details, such as your street name and street number — i.e. Main1215.
Date of Birth
Thanks to Facebook and the internet, it doesn’t take much effort to find a person’s DOB, age or anniversary. Many people are sharing their place of birth, mother’s maiden name, favorite pet’s name, just to name a few. All of them make for readily attainable passwords and are poor choices for your company. Also, note that these questions are also password recovery questions. Answer enough of these and someone can just ask for your password.
Simple Dictionary Words
Especially if they’re related to the business, just don’t use them. No baseball, football, or soccer or your sporting goods store. No tire, or ford for your auto garage.
What should you do when it comes to picking a password?
A good approach starts with thinking of a passphrase. Next, substitute letters, characters, and abbreviations for parts of it. For example, my first car was a jeep in 1984. This would be easy enough to remember if that was the case in your life. Now, change it to my1stc@r=j33p84
Be sure to keep your account users up to date and if you have any questions about our multi-factor authentication process please contact our office. C4 Operations offers 24 hour customer service and is available to assist you with any questions you may have.
If your business is in need of background screening, please contact us at 888.519.6283
We would like to share our many great packages that can save you money and give you great information that you can count on.
