According to an article by Ben Leach that appeared online at www.Telegraph.co.uk, data security firm Imperva analyzed 32 million passwords that had been exposed in a recent hack of RockYou.com. The most commonly used passwords were:
123456
12345
123456789
Password
iloveyou
princess
1234567
12345678
abc123
Unless you wish to become a victim of cyber crime, don’t use any of these — or ones like them — for your own. Create unique ones that adhere to these best practices:
- Use 15 or more characters.
- Use uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Use digits and punctuation characters as well as letters.
- Don’t use real words, your street address, your date of birth, or the names of family members, pets, etc.
- Don’t write them down.
- Don’t use the “Remember Password” feature on your Web browser.
- Change your passwords every six months.
Cyber crime is rampant. Conduct your affairs prudently and cautiously or you’ll fall victim.
This article originally appeared in The Business Owner Journal, the periodical of choice for owners of small and midsize private businesses. All rights reserved, D.L. Perkins LLC. © 2012.
This publication is intended to provide general information on the subject matters covered. It is sold and distributed with the understanding that neither the publisher nor any distributor or advertiser is engaged in providing legal, tax, insurance, investment or other professional advice. The advice of a qualified professional should be sought before any reader applies a concept presented herein to his or her particular situation or business.
D.L. Perkins, LLC is solely responsible for this content.
