create a secure password

4 Tips to Help You Create a Secure Password

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How safe is your online identity? If you are like a majority of users, many of your daily tasks are related directly to your online presence. From banking, to school, work, social media, and cloud-based services, much of your life is online, and you need to take steps to secure your online identity. The decision should not be taken lately, but you can still have a little fun with it.

 

Most Common Passwords of 2013

CBS News published an article in January 2014 that highlighted the 25 most common passwords of the previous years, and it is still surprising to see that users still resort to the same, hackable passwords. The top five on the list were:

  • 123456
  • Password
  • 12345678
  • Qwerty
  • Abc123

 

4 Helpful Tips to Help You Create a Secure Password

We live in a world that asks us to define our lives with a series four to 20 characters that includes upper and lowercase letters and symbols. Do not be bogged down by the password requirements, but do not get lazy either when you are creating your online password; it can cost you your identity. To create a secure password, consider the following four tips.

  1. Use a password vault service

If you know right off the bat that you will never remember all of your strange passwords, use a third-party service that stores your passwords for you. When you access the site, it will provide you will your login information for each of the sites you visit. You can also have the site save your login information so that you are automatically logged in to your sites when you access them.

  1. Get creative and be random

Use numbers and symbols to replace letters in a password. For example, K@r3n instead of Karen. Some experts also recommend that users append the first three letters of the site’s name to the end of the password: AMA for Amazon, FAC for Facebook, etc. You can also be completely random when you are choosing a password. Look around your space, what do you see? 3penTissuec@t.

  1. Use acronyms

Use acronyms to replace your favorite words or phrases.

  1. Combine your favorites

If you work with some of your favorite foods, cars, places, actors, song, etc., you can come up with many clever password phrases such as Tesla$wiftnacho. The passwords are strong, funny, and easier to remember.

 

Need more help with security and protecting your valuable data? Contact Limotta IT today!

disaster recovery plan

Disaster Recovery: Are You Prepared?

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With winter quickly approaching, we are all reminded of what can happen when unexpected troubles come our way. Feeling like you are prepared doesn’t always mean that you are actually prepared. We have heard time and again how poor planning has led to unnecessary loss. Disaster preparedness is taxing to think about, and it can be hard to make it a priority.

Planning for Disaster Saves Businesses Money

Business owners have a lot on their plates, so it’s easy to put IT headaches on the back burner. This is no different than preparing for winter. We all know that there is a chance we could be hit by a big snow storm, but how likely are we to take those important steps to prepare? (Not counting the milk, eggs, and bread as storm preparation that many of us rush out to buy when we hear of an incoming snow storm!)

The number one way to prevent loss is to prepare for the worst case scenario. When an unexpected snow storm comes, would you rather your town have too many snow plows or not enough? This is the same idea that can be applied to your office practices. When it comes to IT infrastructure, costs can add up quickly. Pick and choose exactly what you will need in case of an emergency, so you can continue operating business as usual even when faced with storm damage, data loss, or equipment malfunction.

Develop a Plan and Follow Through

Once you develop a loss prevention plan be sure to follow through. Having the plan won’t do you any good if you wait until it’s too late. Everyone knows that snow plows hit the streets before the snow falls, salting and sanding the roads. What good would it do if they waited until after the storm passed? Implement your plan and perform quality checks on how well your backup system would work before you actually need it.

Don’t underestimate potential threats to your company’s valuable files and data. Adapting a half-baked approach to IT protection while hoping for the best is a waste of time and money. When serious snow storms are underestimated, the results have been tragic. Don’t allow this to be you! Statistically, 8 out of 10 businesses report a financial loss due to poor disaster preparedness – and many will never recover after data loss and wind up out of business! Don’t allow yourself to be a part of this statistic.

When you take time to develop a plan which safeguards your company’s wellbeing you are showing your employees that you are also taking care of them. This is extremely important. Employees take notice when there is a diligent and well thought out plan. If you don’t care enough about your business to invest in damage control why should employees care about their performance? Take steps now to safeguard your business and your livelihood. LIMOTTA IT offers both proactive and reactive IT Support plans to help businesses, schools, hotels, and breweries prepare for disaster. Contact us to learn more about our disaster recovery services.