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Guide To Creating a Strong Password

Protect your business against cyber crime and use a secure password

The threat of cyber crime poses a serious risk to the productivity and profitability of thousands of companies throughout the UK. In 2015 it was estimated that 75% of all SMEs suffered a cyber security breach which led to inconvinience or direct costs. One of the most effective and overlooked ways of securing your online business is through using more secure passwords.

Most people select their passwords based on the criteria of their ease of remembering. However these are often the passwords that prove easiest for hackers to breach, and with SMEs on average incurring damages of between £75k-£300k, the importance of securing data is essential.

Security firm SplashData publish an annual list of 'Worst Password Combinations' demonstrating the popularity and ease of breaching these common passwords.

Top 10 Worst Passwords

  1. 123456
  2. password
  3. 12345678
  4. qwerty
  5. 12345
  6. 123456789
  7. football
  8. 1234
  9. 1234567
  10. baseball

Simple passwords that are chosen based on keyboard layout are often the most hacked and least secure. Abaco have created an easy to follow guide designed to help you decrease the liklihood of cyber hacking.

How to Select a Password

  • Choose an artist - select your favourite, memorable artist: eg. Fleetwood Mac
  • Choose a song - select their most memorable song: eg. Go Your Own Way
  • Choose some lyrics - select lyrics from their song: eg. You Can Go Your Own Way
  • Abbreviate this - condense to only the starting letters: eg. ycgyow
  • Make it case sensitive - make two letters capitalised: eg. YcgyoW
  • Include symbols - add symbols or numbers to increase difficulty: eg. YcgyoW77

As business increasingly move their file storage to cloud based services, the importance of secure passwords are as important as the lock on the front door of your premises. Whilst the difficulty of the passwords your company uses is not currently a condition of insurance cover, it is always a preferred option to avoid a claim if possible and minimise business interruption.

The Abaco Team