Get tips on how to choose and use strong passwords to keep your information private.
Have you seen this poster around Adelphi’s locations? It was co-designed by Adelphi alumni Alisha Kelleher ’14 and William Pasquarello ’14.
Passwords are the first line of defense between you and hackers. If your passwords are easy to guess then your important information is easy for other to find. Millions of people were vulnerable to the Heartbleed Bug that was disclosed in April 2014. However, too many people still haven’t changed their passwords since that issue has been resolved. This leaves Facebook pages, bank accounts, and credit card information open to hackers.
The largest problem people have is that they use the same password for all their important accounts. Your bank account should have a totally unique password from your email and your email password should be unique from your online subscriptions.
Your passwords should also have a combination of letters and numbers. The longer and more complex the password the harder it is going to be to guess or hack into your accounts. A combination between your favorite word or phrase and numbers that are important to you will help you with keep your accounts safe.
Using words or phrases and numbers that are meaningful to you can help you remember your passwords better. You can also try replacing letters in words with numbers to make a more complex password. For example, the phrase “To be or not to be” as a password could be “2BorN2B”. This complex password is very difficult to guess but easy to remember.
You must also remember to change your password often. It is recommended that passwords be changed every 60 days. While realistically that seems absurd it is in your best interest to change your password at least every 3 to 4 months.
If remembering all these passwords seems impossible there are services that can help you keep track of them. Services like Roboform and Password Box can help manage your passwords. LastPass is a free password management service that can help.
Passwords are an important part of your cyber security and keeping yours safe is important if you want to keep your information private.
For further information on security issues:
Visit our IT security site for more topics at it.adelphi.edu/security.
Live chat with a Help Desk rep at chat.adelphi.edu.
Email your issue to helpdesk@adelphi.edu or call 516.877.3340.
National Cyber Security Awareness Month is an initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Aligning with this campaign, Adelphi IT urges everyone at the University to take responsibility for protecting your digital resources, whether personal, academic, or professional.
For further information, please contact:
Todd Wilson
Strategic Communications Director
p – 516.237.8634
e – twilson@adelphi.edu