At Dytech Group, our Winter Park IT cyber security team has been hacking the hackers to find out what security mistakes they want you to make. 

We all know that safe passwords are the best way to protect our data but it’s easy to get lazy because there are SO MANY PASSWORDS! Our cyber security team at Dytech Group wants you to turn over a new leaf this year and up your vigilance game for password security. Here are the top password mistakes that hackers want you to make and how to avoid them.

Passwords That Are Easy To Guess

Other than common passwords like “123456” or “password,” when you use personal information in your passwords, hackers can guess it more easily. Never include birthdays of anyone in your family, Social Security numbers, street addresses, or any other data that can link your password directly to you. Hackers are getting more sophisticated by the day and the software they use just needs a tiny crumb of personal information to crack your password.

By the way, if you have any of the passwords on this list, change them right away. The hacker award for the five worst passwords goes to:

1. 123456
2. Password
3. 12345678
4. Qwerty
5. 12345

Too Few Numbers And Special Characters

This rule is simple: the more numbers and special characters your password contains, the harder it is for a hacker to guess. A smart way to use characters and numbers, and still be able to remember your password, is to replace a letter with a number or character. Sentences are also a great way to create a unique and difficult-to-guess password. Put some characters and numbers into that sentence and you’re definitely upping your password game. 

“mywhitedogissweet” : Okay

“M!w7!T3D0g!&&we3t” : Strong

That’s a lot of special characters and numbers to remember but you get the idea.

Using The Same Password For Everything

As mentioned above, we have passwords for everything: smartphones, computers, streaming services, banking applications, every app on your phone, etc. It can be overwhelming to remember them all. 

It is tempting to create one really strong password and use it over and over. This completely defeats the purpose of a strong password. All a hacker has to do is crack it one time then he has access to everything you’re trying to protect.

Not Changing Your Password Frequently

Our Winter Park IT cyber security team recommends changing your passwords at least once a year, but you need to keep an eye on the news for any data breaches that may have affected your accounts. 

When Disney+ launched in 2019, a huge data breach exposed the account information of thousands of customers. If you suspect your data or password has been compromised, go ahead and update your password. It’s better to be proactive than reactive in this situation. In other words, there’s no downside to changing your passwords more frequently than you think you need to.

Pro Tip On Avoiding These Mistakes

Now that you know the best practices for falling victim to a password hacker, you may be asking yourself how on earth you’ll remember dozens of super-strong passwords. The good news is that there are many software programs that only require one strong password to keep the rest of your passwords safe. LastPass is one that our Winter Park IT cyber security team loves and that hackers hate.

Let Dytech Group Protect Your Data

When it comes to data security, our Winter Park IT cyber security team can provide you and your employees with best practices that will keep your data safe from hackers’ attempts to breach your network. Contact us for more information and download our Cyber Security Essentials Whitepaper for actions you can take today to keep your business safe.