


Reusing a simple password across multiple platforms can be the kiss of death. For example: Frodo123! But never use this password again with any other email account. This theft will not put any critical accounts or passwords at risk.įor these accounts, you could actually use a password as simple as a word, a few letters, and a special character. If (when) these passwords are stolen or these accounts are hacked, no critical information or passwords are lost. The unimportant passwords for these trivial accounts provide protection in their insignificance. These single-use accounts are particularly useful if you know you’re going to be immediately subscribed to an endless barrage of unappreciated sales emails for the rest of that account’s lifetime (“unsubscribe” buttons be damned).
GOOD PASSWORDS TO USE FREE
If you’ve ever created a burner email address to use a free trial, the idea is much the same. Level One: The throwaway passwordĪ throwaway password is one that is utilized with a throwaway email address. Here are five recommendations that managers and IT departments can share with employees and teams to help them find - and use - the right level of protection for any situation. Instead, companies need to find the approach that works best for their people - and that employees will actually follow. So what can companies do? The good news is it’s not a question of choosing between gold standard security or nothing at all. Simultaneously, 68% of password users admit they reuse credentials because they fear forgetting them and 36% do not consider their accounts valuable enough to need more stringent security measures. According to a 2019 Google poll, over 52% of users admit to reusing passwords and approximately 13% admit to using one password across all accounts. Despite knowing the risks of weak passwords, which are vulnerable to brute force attacks, and repeating passwords, people do both over and over again. Sadly, the human factor of password security boils down to what’s easy rather than what’s secure. Simple and familiar passwords will always trump complex and more secure ones. Often, they’re trying to avoid the feelings of frustration that accompany their failure to easily recall the information. It’s not just that users don’t want to expend precious cognitive energy on remembering unique and complex passwords for every account. The problem here is that human nature is complicated. And for companies, one of the biggest challenges in shoring up their security is getting employees to practice better password hygiene. The uncomfortable truth is that password security remains a common and underestimated concern. Instead, they lean on go-to passwords that are easy to remember, throwing in that “!” at the end of their secret word or slotting in place of the letter “a.” (It’s not for nothing that is the most popular password.) None of this, of course, diminishes the stakes of a breach for most companies. “Use a strong password” is the “wear sunscreen” of the digital world: Everyone knows it’s good advice, but too few people actually follow it.
