56% of users never change their passwords
- The cybersecurity company has given 10 keys to creating good passwords, including not using personal data, changing them periodically and keeping them stored in a safe place.
On the occasion of the celebration of World Password Day on Thursday, May 6, the cybersecurity company S2 Grupo has highlighted that, in a hyper-connected world like the one we live in today, passwords are an essential element to maintain privacy and security on all accounts and devices connected to the network that we use.
According to a survey conducted by S2 Grupo from its Hijosdigitales.es blog, it has been found that 56% of users confirm that they never change their passwords and use them for years. And more than 42% claim to use the same password for everything.
“We have to keep one thing in mind in the online world. And the stronger our password is, the more difficult it will be for cybercriminals to access our data. No one would think of leaving the door open when leaving home, because that is what we do on the Internet when our password is weak, the same for years or the same in all profiles”, declared Miguel A. Juan, managing partner of S2 Grupo.
"We still often think: 'How is a cyber attacker going to get my data?' However, the reflection should be another: 'Why not?' Our photos, our conversations, contacts, bank access codes, etc., are worth much more than we imagine on the cybercrime black market. Fortunes are paid in exchange for data”, assured José Rosell, managing partner of S2 Grupo.
The S2 Grupo team of experts has prepared a decalogue with 10 tips for creating good passwords:
- Do not use family data.- this would leave us more exposed to people who know us or contacts from our social networks.
- Avoid words or series of numbers.- Hackers use automatic systems to crack passwords that make use of word dictionaries and generate combinations of numbers. According to recent studies, the worst passwords are '123456', 'password', 'abc123', 'qwerty', etc.
- Choose memorable but unguessable passwords.- so that remembering them is not a problem, we can use a word or combination of numbers that is familiar to us and combine it with the rest of the elements of a strong password, for example.
- Use different keys for each service.- If we use the same code for everything and it is cracked by a cyber attacker, we will compromise the security of all the services and devices we use. For this reason, it is essential that they be different.
- Change passwords periodically.- If we want to increase our security, it is very important to renew the passwords periodically, this way we will prevent another person from using them if at some point they had access to them.
- Keep them secret.- The best way to prevent others from accessing our accounts is not to share our passwords with anyone.
- Write them down in a safe place.- If we want to record them somewhere in case we forget them, it is advisable to do it in a place that we consider safe in our home and never do it on the computer, tablet or smartphone.
- Use of applications.- There are an increasing number of apps that can help us to encrypt our passwords to safeguard them properly and remember them if necessary.
More information:
prensa@s2grupo.es