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What is unique, anyway?

By Dan Hadaway | Sunday, January 31, 2010 - Leave a Comment

Is Twitter_v1g!l1z3 the same password as Youtube_v1g!l1z3?

Did you know that our policy requires you to use unique passwords for critical applications?  In other words, the password you use to log into the network, to log into the core, and to log into everything else must be three different passwords.  If you use themes, first let me applaud you, but then let me caution you that the theme you use for the network, the core, and everything else must be three different themes!

Why?

Let me explain.  If a bad guy compromises one of your personal passwords . . . . say the one you use on your own personal Facebook account . . . we don’t want that same bad guy to use the password to log into your bank accounts.  Meanwhile, if somebody hacks into our system and, using cracker software, guesses your network login password, we want the bad guy to have to start all over again to log into the core application.

We also need to realize that our customers are failing to do this.  According to a recent study by Trusteer, which runs a browser security service, over 73% of of more than 4 million users are using their on-line banking password for everything.  (See http://bit.ly/bqw0Fa for more information.)  This is a big risk for our customers, and we should find ways to teach them that their on-line banking password should be unique!

When engaging with our customers (which of course we all need to do for the sake of referrals, right?), consider suggesting that they use a unique password for their on-line banking account.  Doing so will make them think that we care about them, and just might save them from themselves!

Click here for more information about User Awareness Training.

 

 

Infotex Team

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.

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