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Showing items tagged with "Strong Password" - 3 found.

January 2017 – Articles of Note

1. Creating a very strong password – many people reported having their social media accounts hacked.  First, check what apps have access to your account and delete any you do not recognise.  Second and most crucial step is to change your password and make sure it’s really strong.
2. Email signature – what to include – this is a recurrent theme.  Most email signatures are far too long and contain too many images. Email correspondence is not the place to market either your business or yourself.  Keep the signature simple yet informative. This Quora post outlines what vital information to include and what to omit.
3. Hashtag your email for easy searching – you can add a hidden hashtag to emails you search which can make it easier for you to find them.  This gem is thanks to Michael Einstein my fellow IORG board member.
4. Oxford college apologises for sharing names of rejected applicants – this is perhaps the worst email fiasco for some time.  Hertford College sent an email to each reject with the list of all those who had been rejected!  A real case of send in haste and repent at leisure.
5. Uncivil lawyers get personal …in all-staff email – yes even solicitors can forget the difference between Reply and Reply-All when airing personal grievances. Maybe not suprising their firm (King & Wood Mailesons)  is in administration but suspect the two key players (Tim Taylor and George Pinkham) might have difficulty finding new jobs after this email fiasco!

How can you safeguarding your organisation from the risks of such email fiascos? One easy way is to invite Mesmo Consultancy to run an email management and business email etiquette masterclass.

Tags: business email etiquette, Email fiasco, email management, George Pinkham, Hertford College, IORG, King & Wood Mailesons, Mesmo Consultancy, Michael Einstein, Oxford, Quora, Strong Password

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Five top tips to creating strong passwords

Here are five top tips to creating a strong password which are the first line of defence against cyber crime.

1.  Strong passwords which are really very easy to construct and remember. Take a phrase and then build a password from the first letter of each word and turn some into capitals and numerics, for example make your ‘i’ and ‘1’ and add a couple of symbols.  For example ‘I love playing golf in the summer at Parkstone Golf Club’ can become 1Lp9itS@Pgc.

2.  Consider using some form of password management software such as LastPass, Zoho Vault and Dashlane.

3.  Where you have a choice adopt devices which have more than just password protection for example finger and retina recognition.

4. Try to avoid logging in to accounts with your social media accounts.  Instead create a new password.

5. When using a mobile device use an app which mask your typing such as Blur.

Don’t forget too to be extra vigilant with your email account because email is often the open backdoor for a cyber attack.

For more about how Mesmo Consultancy is helping our clients to reduce the risk of email cyber crime through email best practice contact us now.

Tags: Blur, DashLane, email cyber crime, Facebook hacked, KeePass, LastPass, Strong Password, Zoho Vault

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Password Management; which is more annoying spam or forgetting your password?

According to recent research from Centrify (providers of identity management services) forgetting your password is more annoying than spam email.

The cost of cyber crime has doubled in the past four years according to recent research from Ponemon.  Strong passwords is one way to prevent prying eyes but just how easy is it to construct one?  Also is it good to keep changing your password?

Back in 2010 Microsoft found that changing security words often cost billions of pounds as people wasted time constructing and memorising them and then forgetting them and worse leaving them unsecured.

Centrify now estimate that poor password management costs around £130,500 per year for a business of about 500 users.  How they arrive at that figure is not clear.  What is clear is that we really are not good at the basics of identity management.  The top five mistakes being:

1. Always use the same password whenever possible.
2. Rotate through a variety of similar passwords.
3. Keep a written password in a master book of passwords.
4. Use personal information in a password.
5. Avoid using complicated symbols or combining upper and lower case.

Security management behaviour can easily be improved although it often takes a cyber attack (personal or corporate) as a wake up call.  User education is key to reducing cyber crime.  Here are our five top tips.

1.  Avoid the traps identified above.

2.  Second, use strong passwords which are really very easy to construct and remember. Take a phrase and then build a password from the first letter of each word and turn some into capitals and numerics, for example make your ‘i’ and ‘1’ and add a couple of symbols.

3.  For those with multiple accounts consider using some form of password management software such as LastPass or Keepass.

4.  Where you have a choice adopt devices which have more than just password protection for example finger and retina recognition.

5.  Be vigilant about those emails which grab your attention telling you your accounts has been hacked.  Delete them without even opening them as they are almost certainly from spammers attempting some form of identity theft.

Email is often the open backdoor for a cyber attack. For more about how we help our clients to reduce the risk of email cyber crime through email best practice contact us now.

Tags: Centrify, cyber crime, email best practice, email cyber crime, KeePass, LastPass, Password Management, Ponemon, Spam, Strong Password

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