Do you insist that your clients all use complex passwords, or do you bow to the pressure of relaxing the rules?<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve been in the IT business for any length of time, you\u2019ve inevitably come across clients who don\u2019t really take password security very seriously. Some individuals genuinely believe that the risk of security breaches is overstated. It\u2019s fair to say they are mistaken.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve probably come across all kinds of attitudes towards passwords. Some IT consultants even encounter company bosses who insist that all passwords (sometimes with the exception of their own) are exactly the same. These bosses are completely blind to the fact that a security breach is often as likely to be caused by a disgruntled ex staff member as someone outside the organisation.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve still got clients who are stubborn about the importance of password restrictions, the most recent list of \u201cbad passwords\u201d should give you some ammunition to help convince them that they should take things more sriously.<\/p>\n
Here are the most commonly used \u201cbad\u201d passwords of 2013, as compiled by\u00a0SplashData<\/em>:<\/p>\n 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 123456<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 password<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12345678<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 qwerty<\/p>\n 5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 abc123<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 123456789<\/p>\n 7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 111111<\/p>\n 8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1234567<\/p>\n 9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 iloveyou<\/p>\n 10. \u00a0\u00a0 adobe123<\/p>\n People certainly like those number-based passwords don\u2019t they? While it\u2019s pleasing to finally see the techie\u2019s old favourite of \u201cTrustNoOne\u201d disappear from the top ten, the presence of \u201cpassword\u201d at number two is rather depressing.<\/p>\n As an IT professional, you\u2019re probably in a position of trust where you know quite a few of your clients\u2019 passwords. Are any of them using any from the top ten list? Even worse, are YOU? If so, shame on you! Go and change them now!<\/p>\n The usual objection to complex passwords is predictable: \u201cHow am I ever going to remember them?\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve ever implemented compulsory complex passwords on a network and stayed present when the change requests kicked in, you\u2019ve probably suffered a tirade of abuse.<\/p>\n The thing is, it\u2019s not really that difficult to create a complex password that is easy to remember. Here are some ideas, both for you and for your clients:<\/p>\n It\u2019s not really that difficult to come up with a complex password that\u2019s easy to remember \u2013 your clients might just need some ideas to help. The one thing you shouldn\u2019t do is give in to any insistence on letting them continue to use laughably predictable passwords like those in the list above. After all, it\u2019s your phone that\u2019s going to ring when someone breaks into their network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you insist that your clients all use complex passwords, or do you bow to the pressure of relaxing the rules? If you\u2019ve been in the IT business for any…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","topic-msp-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSome Helpful Alternatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n