Cyber Tip – Using Strong Passwords and a Password Manager

Many users connect to the internet and access multiple accounts and services for business, including email platforms, applications, and vendor websites. The increased use of online accounts and services, combined with users engaging in risky password management practices, puts both themselves and their employers at risk of account compromise and data breaches. Therefore, it is important to practice good password hygiene to protect accounts and data.

Strong, unique passwords for each account help prevent password reuse attacks in which threat actors obtain the password for one account and use it to compromise an additional account using the same credentials. Threat actors succeed when users reuse credentials across multiple accounts, use easy-to-guess or simple passwords, and do not enable multi-factor authentication (MFA). Strong, unique passwords help secure information, networks, servers, devices, accounts, databases, files, and more against cyberattacks.

Password managers are an effective method to assist users in creating strong, unique passwords and storing them securely. These accounts should be secured with unique and complex master passwords and multi-factor authentication (MFA) using an authentication app or hardware token. Password managers contain sensitive data and, therefore, require implementing the strongest possible security measures. Users are encouraged to research password manager providers thoroughly prior to use.