One common issue that many IT companies see on a regular basis is the tracking and maintenance of passwords. Many times, people believe that their chosen IT support company has a safeguarded list of all current company passwords that can be referenced when needed. This is not the case. It’s easy to forget that a password is called a password for a reason—for protection.
Don’t Trust Anyone with Your Passwords
Passwords should be kept safe even from the most trusted sources, such as your IT company. When a password is trusted with too many hands, it runs risks for potential invasions, such as malware and virus attacks, as well as hacking breaches. For this reason, computer technicians use other options to remote into or service your computers, such as administrative accounts and unattended programs, where they are able to temporarily access your system, but only in areas that are given permission first. With these options, the main facilitator of the system can access and deny certain permissions to certain people at certain times.
Giving Out Temporary Passwords
If you must give out a password for temporary situations, use a temporary password, or change it once the other party no longer needs it. For example, if you wish to give your password to your IT support rep to do a quick installation on your computer, give him a temporary password, and then change your password back to the original after he leaves. Depending on which program you are using, your IT support company will be more than happy to assist in changing and resetting passwords for you.
How to Create Strong Passwords
One thing to remember when creating and keeping passwords on your network or accounts is to choose a powerful password. Never use easily recognizable passwords, such as your name, pet/kid name, or address. Choose a password that is complex, but easy for you to remember. It is important to choose a password with significant length. It is suggested that a strong password is between 12 and 15 characters. Another important factor in creating a strong password is the complexity. Use numbers and symbols in place of letters, and use a mixture of lower/upper case characters. One fun trick that we found in generating a strong password was to use the first character from every word from a favorite line in a song or movie. For example, look at the quote, “Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata, ain’t no passing craze”. A password generated from this could look like this: HMwawpHManpc. To make it even more complex, switch out some of the characters, like this: HMw@wpHMan9c. Take it a step further and add an extra symbol, like this: HMw@wpHMan9c!. Now you have complex password that would be difficult for a hacker to guess. And all you’d have to remember was your favorite line from your favorite movie.
Help When You Need It
While they are more than willing to help recover or locate your passwords, your IT company doesn’t keep them on hand. They are your passwords for a reason—to keep your information private and secure. Not sure about how secure your passwords are? Contact MTI today. We can get you and your network safeguarded with password generation, password storage, and password recovery to ensure your data’s safety.
