How to create secure passwords
Why is a secure password important and steps to create one
Why is a secure password important and steps to create one
Symptom
The recent hack of celebrity accounts, along with several high-profile data breaches, serves as a wake-up call for the need to secure our passwords. IT professionals have developed guidelines for creating strong and secure passwords, and we’ve collected some of their best recommendations.
Applicable Brands
- Lenovo, Idea laptops, desktops
- ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, ThinkStation
- Lenovo smartphones
Solution
Stop Making it Easy for Hackers to Get Your Passwords
- Weak, easy-to-remember passwords are also easy to guess. A yearly roundup of the Top Worst Passwords lists “123456” and “password” as the weakest to use.
- When you post your personal information to social media, hackers can learn your birthdate as well as the names of your spouse, children and pets. Cybercriminals know that these and other things are often used as passwords.
- Cybercriminals have become extremely adept at convincing us to open email attachments that can secretly install key loggers, malware and botnet software. Even when a suspicious email comes from close family or a friend, this sophisticated social engineering means there’s a possibility that person’s system has been compromised.
Start by Creating a Secure Password
If you tend to use the same password for multiple accounts, stop. Once your password is revealed on one site, it can put your personal and financial information at risk on other sites. Experts recommend using passwords of eight or more characters containing combinations of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters and using a different password for each site. (You can test how secure your current password is with this tool).
Try the Special Phrase Approach
Creating a password from a phrase lets you produce a long, complex and hard-to-guess one that you can easily remember. A simple phrase such as “I love that TV show on Channel 7!” becomes “IltTVsoC7!”–a ten-character password that contains all the necessary elements. The phrase makes it easy for you to remember and impossible for someone else to guess. Any favorite phrases, song lyrics, baseball stats or famous quotes can be used to create complex and hard-to-forget passwords.
Add an Extra Layer of Security
A password plus a second factor like a PIN sent to your phone or a biometric fingerprint reader (select Lenovo PCs have this feature), adds an extra layer of security and is supported on most devices and operating systems. Facial recognition apps are also becoming popular on many webcam-equipped devices.
Imagine a World Without Passwords (It’s Coming!)
Passwords present many security concerns, and managing them can be a challenge. As a member of the FIDO Alliance, Lenovo is working on a standard to replace Internet password use with more robust authentication methods (like fingerprint readers) to help keep your business, personal and financial data safe.
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