Managed IT Force Blog

The Disney brand has long cultivated an image of magic and wonder. However, this image has yet to materialize any magical effects in reality. For example, people still suffer from food allergies while visiting Disney’s various parks.

This makes it especially dangerous that a former Disney employee was allegedly still able to access a specialized menu-planning app and make alterations, like changing prices, adding language that Disney certainly would not approve of, switching text to the unintelligible “Wingdings” font, and worst of all… changing menu information.

Passwords have long been one of the central pillars of account security on the Internet. Combined with a username, they make up the foundation of most login systems. Because of this, they are a hot commodity for hackers who want to steal credentials and infiltrate accounts or networks. In recent years, however, other security measures have exposed the weakness of poor passwords for security, leading to the adoption of other measures.

One of the reasons that information technology keeps changing is for the sake of the user and their convenience using it. However, if this convenience comes at the sacrifice of your business’ cybersecurity, it just isn’t worth it. This is the crux of why we always recommend that any organization seeking to use password management should invest in a reputable password management software, rather than the built-in capabilities of modern browsers.

Whether you love them or hate them, passwords serve an important purpose in the realm of cybersecurity. They are the first line of defense against potential threats, yet they are also notoriously easy to crack. Some of the biggest names in technology have been working on ways to get around the challenges presented by password security, including one that we are excited to highlight in today’s blog.

Simple passwords are often the bane of a business’ existence. If you routinely use strings like Password, 123456, Guest,  or Qwerty to secure an account, then you need to reexamine your password practices before they lead to a data breach. A good password can go a long way toward helping you in this effort.

Passwordless authentication has been increasingly spoken of in favor of the typical password-based method, and is gaining traction the more it is talked about. Google recently took steps toward passwordless that we felt warranted some discussion.

User authentication is a critical security feature for a business, specifically because it helps to minimize a significant threat to your business. This is why we’re so adamant that you should require multi-factor authentication wherever it is available… but is a better way to authenticate your users on the horizon?

Passwords have been a primary data security measure since 1960, when MIT researcher Fernando Corbató suggested the practice—although even he is reportedly slow to take full credit. Why? Well, if you ask Corbató (and his contemporaries, who were the first to implement passwords as we’d recognize them today), the security concerns were limited.

So, have we reached the point where it would be best to replace passwords as the default authentication measure?

Most accounts these days require a password of some sort, and as such, the average user has countless of these codes that need to be kept both secure and top-of-mind. Some web browsers have built-in password management tools to help make them more user-friendly, but with so much convenience involved, one has to ask whether or not these built-in management tools are as secure as they should be.

If I were to tell you that one variable was responsible for more than 80 percent of cyberattacks, what would you guess that variable was? If you guessed “stolen access credentials,” you’d be correct. The traditional username/password combination may soon be a thing of the past as more tech companies transition to alternative authentication measures.

The password is the core element of both data security and user authentication. This makes the construction of them extremely important to protecting digital assets. Unfortunately, not everyone understands how to construct passwords that actually work to protect the information on the other side. Today, we will discuss how to build a solid password that works to keep your digital resources safe.

Passwords… can be annoying, if we’re being honest. They are, however, also incredibly important to your business’ overall security strategy. We’ve all heard the suggestions on how to create secure passwords. As it turns out, there is more to modern security then that. Let’s explore a few options to help you create useful passwords, and take a look why passwords are only the beginning. 

Passwords are always a major pain point for businesses, but in some industries, their importance is emphasized more than others. In particular, government-based organizations need to be prepared to keep more secure passwords. While we understand that not all organizations are government-based, there’s something to be said about proper password practices that we can all learn something from.

Let’s be honest - not all of us have the best memories. This makes the ability for many browsers to remember our passwords seem like a godsend. However, is this capability actually a good thing for your cybersecurity? The answer may not surprise you.

As you may expect, the average Internet scammer isn’t above resorting to dirty tricks to claim their ill-gotten prize from their victims. A recent scam demonstrates just how dirty these tricks can truly be, and unfortunately, how ill-prepared many are to handle them.

Passwords are all over the place these days, whether they’re required to access an online account, or access the devices used to open these accounts. While both types of passwords can make for ideal security conditions, this is only the case if the passwords are strong. If your passwords can be guessed by just about anyone, can you really call it a security measure? New insights from SplashData show that passwords aren’t being considered as much as they need to be.

Your identity has quite a lot of value, especially in the wrong hands. Security firm ZoneAlarm put together some numbers in 2011 concerning identity fraud, and it even shocked us. Let's talk about a few of these statistics and what it means.