Strategies of Password: For Better Protection in Cyberspace

With the growth of technology and its use in different sectors of society, various corporate, government, financial and medical institutions and organizations collect and store a vast amount of data. A significant amount of this data is sensitive, including personal information, intellectual property, etc. Therefore, any unauthorized access to this data can lead to undesired consequences. There are a couple of practical ways to protect cyberspace from the threats of hacking or any unauthorized access. One of these ways is setting a solid and effective password. Password makes the data secure and stored on various devices and servers across cyberspace. A good website maintenance practice is changing the essential passwords from time to time.

Cyberspace:

No objective or standard definition is available for the term “cyberspace.” It has been widely employed to denote the virtual world of computers. An object in cyberspace is a piece of data in a computer system or a network. With the widespread use of the internet, the term now incorporates the network of computers across the globe.

Ensuring Cyber Security:

To ensure cyber security, a few steps can be taken. These are controlling access to the network, setting up a firewall, using security software and partnership with security providers, updating the programs and systems regularly, and training the employees regarding cyber security issues. However, the most basic and most effective step in ensuring cyber security is using a valid Password in the system.

To avoid hacking, one needs to use a strong password. However, there are strategies to set up and use a strong password. There are a few DOs and DONTs for this purpose.

DOs:

1. The user needs to use Two Factor Authentication whenever possible, as it attaches an extra security patch to the account or the system. To use 2FA, one may use two or three types of identification. These are
2. A PIN or a password
3. A device where the code can be sent to
4. A fingerprint or voice identification as a biometric profile
5. Using a combination of uppercase and lowercase characters
6. The password must contain at least eight characters. The more symbols and characters are in the password, the more difficult it is to be cracked.
7. Abbreviated phrases can be used to set a password. A word can be thought out, and the abbreviated form of it can be used as a password. Using a number or punctuation as characters can make it more difficult.
8. The password needs to be changed regularly.
9. When the activities on the device of the website are finished, the users need to log out of them.
10. A strong password always needs to be used, and it can be stored only in memory. It can also be stored in a dependable password management system.
11. It would be a good idea to make the password a nonsense phrase. The letter combination should be from something other than a dictionary or published literature; they must not have a grammatical logic. The words must be selected as randomly as possible.
12. The password must be a mixture of symbols, uppercase and lowercase characters, and numbers.

DON’Ts:

1. The commonly used combination of numbers like 123456 or 1111111 should never be used. A concrete word is also to be avoided.
2. A solitary word from any language needs to be avoided as a password, as the hackers have their dictionary-based software to crack these passwords. If somebody wants to stick to a word, it must be misspelled as much as possible. It can be punctured by random numbers or letters.
3. Using a derivative from the user’s name or any other family member, pet, or friend must be strictly avoided. The phone number or addresses are also on the banned list because such passwords are straightforward to guess and easily broken.
4. The passwords which have been previously used should never be reused. Even the variation of them should never be used.
5. The passwords are not to be written down; even if they are written down, they are not to be written down along with the User Id. They can be written down in a fragmented way.
6. The same passwords should never be used across multiple devices and websites.
7. Never answer YES when prompted to save the password for the browser of a particular computer.
8. A short and less complex password is never to be used. Otherwise, it can be broken by the hackers using multiple combinations of characters repeatedly.

Having a solid password makes all the difference in the vulnerability of a website. Those with weak and generic passwords will eventually be hacked. Make sure to include password changes in your website maintenance schedule.