Why you should ALWAYS use strong passwords!
We can’t predict where the bad guys will strike next . . .
Or how they can use technology to hurt us!
A Vigilize Post!
Sometimes you might think,
“well . . . okay, I buy in this strong password thing, but I am not going to use strong passwords in all my applications and websites because that will drive me crazy. I’ll only use strong passwords where I have my credit card and my on-line banking.”
Fair enough. I like that you are at least thinking in terms of risk, and you are right . . . some websites and applications present more risk than others. It’s a question I hear all the time when I’m training people. “Why use strong passwords on a website where I am not really storing any sensitive information?”
You’re not going to like my answer.
The problem I have with this is that we can rarely predict when technology can reach out to bite us. For an example, lets say that you decided not to use a strong password for your DirecTv account. “I mean,” people will say, “who cares if somebody hacks into that account, and sees what movies or TV programs I’m watching?”
And, by the way, I want you to know that I cringe when you add, “I post about what I’m watching all the time, on Facebook and Twitter.”
And they you’ll add: “I don’t care if anybody knows what I’m watching on TV or what I got DVR-ed.”
But what you need to understand is that if I wanted to rob your house, I’d be able to log in to your DirecTV account and see your TV viewing habits. If I noticed that you had . . . say Dog TV . . . on your schedule for all day on a Wednesday and a Thursday, that is a pretty good indication to me that you are not going to be around your home on Wednesday and Thursday.
This is why we encourage the use of a strong password every single time you’re ask to make up a password.They’re free!=
Intended Use:
The purpose of Vigilize is to respond to ISO’s complaints that users never read ISO’s “ongoing security awareness training reminders.” Our tweets are designed to be copied into the subject line of your awareness reminder, with the language on these pages put into the body. The goal is that the user will have to read the subject line to know to delete the message, and if they understand the subject line the reminder is communicated. If not, they will go into the message and read the reminder.
Feel free to use Vigilize in your own Security Awareness Program. Let us know if you have any ideas, suggested tweets, or ways to improve this FREE service.
Original article by Dan Hadaway CRISC CISA CISM. Founder and Managing Partner, infotex
Dans New Leaf is a fun blog to inspire thought in the area of IT Governance.
