top 10 tips for a more secure password

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TOP 10 TIPS FOR A MORE SECURE PASSWORD Take a second to think about all the information you communicate and transactions you make online in any given day. Work email, personal email, SaaS applications, mobile apps, games, social media, e-commerce, online banking… the list goes on. That’s a lot of passwords to remember! The shocking truth of the matter is most people aren’t taking the proper steps to secure themselves online so here are some suggestions to make it easier to do just that. 1 Check the list of the most commonly used passwords and make sure you’re not using them. It’s 2014 and tons of people are still using “password”, “abc123”, and “123456” as real passwords! Never reuse the same password for multiple applications, especially for things like online banking. If one application is compromised, it’s even easier for everything else you use to become compromised. 3 When creating passwords for individual applications, don’t use its name in the password. This makes it especially easy to guess. When companies like LinkedIn and eHarmony were hacked, security companies found that many of the passwords actually included “linkedin” or “eharmony” in the password! Don’t use personal information such as phone numbers, social security numbers, or names of family or even pets. Former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney had his Dropbox and Hotmail accounts hacked after someone guessed the answer to the security question “Favorite Pet’s Name” in order to reset his passwords. 5 Do not use complete words, especially if they can be found in a dictionary (including foreign words). It’s better to use misspelled words or a combination of words. Think of it more like a “pass-phrase”. 2 4

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Page 1: Top 10 Tips For A More Secure Password

TOP 10 TIPS FOR A MORE SECURE PASSWORD

Take a second to think about all the information you communicate and transactions you make online in any given day. Work email, personal email, SaaS applications, mobile apps, games,

social media, e-commerce, online banking… the list goes on. That’s a lot of passwords to remember! The shocking truth of the matter is most people aren’t taking the proper steps to

secure themselves online so here are some suggestions to make it easier to do just that.

1Check the list of the most commonly used passwords and make sure you’re not using them. It’s 2014 and tons of people are still using “password”, “abc123”, and “123456” as real passwords!

Never reuse the same password for multiple applications, especially for things like online banking. If one application is compromised, it’s even easier for everything else you use to become

compromised.

3 When creating passwords for individual applications, don’t use its name in the password. This makes it especially easy to guess. When companies like LinkedIn and eHarmony were hacked, security companies found that many of the passwords actually included “linkedin” or “eharmony” in the password!

Don’t use personal information such as phone numbers, social security numbers, or names of family or even pets. Former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney had his Dropbox and Hotmail accounts hacked after someone guessed the answer to the security question “Favorite Pet’s Name” in order to reset his passwords.

5 Do not use complete words, especially if they can be found in a dictionary (including foreign words). It’s better to use misspelled words or a combination of words. Think of it more like a “pass-phrase”.

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Page 2: Top 10 Tips For A More Secure Password

6Try replacing letters with numbers to make passwords more difficult to crack but still easy to remember. i = 1, E = 3, A = 4, a = @, o = 0, etc. However, this alone is not enough, since even

something like “p455w0rd” is vulnerable to hackers’ sophisticated technology.

7 Length matters. A strong password contains a minimum of 8 character but preferably at least 12, as well as a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols.

8To make them as difficult to crack but as easy to remember as possible, try using acronyms that stand for easy-to-remember phrases. For example, “This Bitium article

changed my life in 2014” could become TBacmli’14!

Change your password often, preferably several times a year. 910 Don’t try to remember all your passwords. Use a single sign-on tool (like

Bitium!), which makes it even easier to protect yourself and your company. You can create the most secure passwords you can think of for each individual application that

you use and never have to remember a single one.

What is Bitium?

Bitium is a single sign-on service that lets companies easily manage web-based Apps like customer service dashboards, collaboration tools, CRMs, social networks, accounting programs, bug trackers, marketing tools, and other Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”). Bitium also integrates with homegrown tools accessed via the web.

Bitium helps companies increase security, efficiency and control by managing corporate cloud Apps in one place, while allowing employees to work faster and smarter.

We hope you will consider Bitium in your SSO vendor evaluation. Please let us know how we can help you in your effort to choose the right SSO provider for your organization. Contact us at [email protected] or 1 855-424-8486 with any questions.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR A MORE SECURE PASSWORD | 2

Bitium, Inc., 2448 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA, 90405, USA | 1-855-424-8486 | bitium.com©2014 Bitium, Inc. All rights reserved. Bitium and the Bitium logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bitium Inc. in the USA and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Information is subject to change without notice.