Why you need a strong password policy for your business in 2020

Did you know that 71% of cyberattacks target small businesses? Did you also know it takes hackers just 4 minutes to hack into your network, but it takes 99+ days for typical businesses to even know they’ve been breached? One of the most important layers of defense, then, is a strong password policy for your business.

Last week, Mike Ritsema and Dave Carey, our Security Team Lead, hosted a password management webinar on why businesses need to implement strong password policies.

Here were the key takeaways of the webinar:

Have strong and diverse passwords for each account you have (no repeating!)

You may have heard this tip multiple times before, but we strongly advise that you change and set different passwords for all your online accounts! Once a hacker obtains one of your passwords, it is only a matter of time until they access your bank account, social media account, and email. You might think, “I’ll just add a capital letter or add an “!” at the end of the password to create a new one!” Don’t do this – hackers are on to you!

Just remember ONE password and leave the rest to a password manager, like LastPass *demo included in the webinar

At i3 Business Solutions, we recommend the password management extension, LastPass. It is easily installed on your browser and encrypts all your stored passwords. Skip to 7:49 in the webinar to see Mike’s demo of how he uses LastPass.

If your current password is less than 14 characters long, change it. Passwords with 15 or more characters are not stored in the local database.

When you log in to your computer, if your password is less than 14 characters long, it is automatically stored inside the local database, unencrypted. Make sure you check your character count today.

To check how strong your password is, go to passfault.com and verify that it takes 5+ years’ worth of time to “crack”

Skip to 16:25 in the webinar to see Dave’s demo on passfault.com. It's our recommended site to analyze the strength of your passwords.

Using a password manager is too complicated… is there another option?

Sometimes, Grandma or Aunt just doesn’t get technology – or LastPass, for that matter. In these cases, we can still have safe and secure passwords by using “Key Concepts.” Skip to 15:10 in the webinar to hear Dave’s easy tip on using a “Key Concept” for password management.

Implement MFA in your organization

Lastly, MFA is a must when it comes to sites that store sensitive information like your finances and company data. If you need help with this, make sure to contact i3 Business Solutions here today. You can also call us at 616-719-4140.

Now that you’ve read and heard all this new information, it’s time to update your company password policy and standards to secure your company data today. i3 Business Solutions is offering a free password and security assessment for your small to medium-sized company. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for help with anything ranging from managed IT services, Office 365, to cybersecurity roadmaps for your organization’s success. We are a strong and recognized IT services company in Grand Rapids, MI.

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