Computer Tips: Five Ways to Make Your Passwords Hack-Resistant

computer tips five ways to make your passwords hack resistant

computer tips

Computer tips are a great way to simplify your online experience. Check out these tips on password security:

Creating a secure password is a must in today’s world of online banking and information storage, especially for business-related activity. While it may seem easier to come up with one password and use it for everything, it’s not advisable. Just as in the physical world, there are virtual thieves happy to misappropriate information if you leave yourself and your company unprotected.

Here are 5 ways to make your passwords hack-resistant:

  1. Use a Combination of Letters and Numbers- Using a combination of capital letters, small letters, numbers and symbols makes it harder for a hacker to decipher the password.
  2. The Longer, the Better- Even though it may seem like a hassle to input, a longer password is more secure. The odds of figuring out a four-letter word are much better than those of figuring out a 12-14 letter word.
  3. Password Manager- These programs are available from a multitude of companies. They are basically a repository for all of your passwords and are exceptionally secure. Some of them even generate safe passwords for you and store them. All you have to do is think of a password for the storage site.
  4. No Names!- It is a big no-no to use personal information in a password. Birthdates, given and last names, and anything that is easily identified with you personally should be off-limits.
  5. Using Incomplete Words- While this idea could make you work a little harder to remember your password, it is very effective. Using incomplete words (s2p1d instead of stupid, for example) and substituting numbers and symbols for letters are both great ways to secure your password.

With a little extra effort, it’s not difficult to secure your company’s information. Every step you take to protect information creates one more barrier against hackers, which in turn protects your business information and assets.

Contact us for more tips and tech support.

How to Create a Password to Protect Your Computer

Password to protect your computerA password is a word or string of characters you use for user authentication. You must know it in order to prove your identity or gain approval to access an account. A hacker is a person who illegally gets access to a computer system and tampers with the information.

Tips on how to protect your computer from hackers are below.

  • Do not use a password that contains parts of your name or email address.
  • Do not include personal information or use consecutive numbers in your password.
  • Avoid using a password that has familiar slang terms or phrases.
  • Use variations on numbers, punctuation, capitalization and spelling. A secure password is lengthy, random, and unique.
  • Use the Bruce Schneier’s Method. It was created by a security expert who recommends that you take a sentence and turn it into a password. Take the words from the sentence, then abbreviate and combine them.

It is also important to protect your computer from viruses by using antivirus software. There are several commercial products that can help protect your computer from various viruses, worms, Trojans and other hacker tools. Your software must be configured to update its database on what to look for. Use a firewall as well because it tries to block hackers from entering or using your computer. Firewall examines electronic data coming in or out of your computer and compares it to the rules. If the data matches the rules, it is permitted to pass. If it does not, it is blocked.

For more information please contact us.

Make Your Computer More Secure: 5 Steps to a Stronger Password

make your computer more secure 5 steps to a stronger password

how to make your computer more secure

In this day and age, it isn’t a stretch to say that the majority of your important information is stored online. A laptop computer alone often holds bank account information, a lifetime of photos, business information, credit card numbers, and countless other important tidbits.

So how can you protect yourself from hackers gaining access to all of this? Make your computer more secure by having hack resistant passwords.

Here are AE Technology Group’s 5 steps to making a strong password:

Length

The longer your password, the better! Many experts recommend a password of at least 12 characters, but longer certainly doesn’t hurt. The more you have going on, the less likely it is that someone will be able to crack it.

Variation

It is important to vary your password. Instead of having all lowercase letters, mix it up with some uppercase dispersed throughout as well. Mix letters, numbers, and symbols.

Avoid Dictionary Words

Reusing words that are well known makes for a weaker password. To strengthen a password, alter words so that they are no longer normal. For example, “people” could become “pEOPlei”. This is stronger because it is abnormal.

Avoid Facts Relating To You

For a strong password, avoid using numbers or phrases that are relevant to your life. For example, using your birthday as the numbers in your password will be easy to remember, but also easy for others to figure out.

Use Different Passwords

Avoid using the same password for every account, even if it is a strong password. If all of your passwords match, then someone figuring out one gives them access to all of your accounts.

Contact us for more tips on how to keep your computer safe!

Why Security is at the Heart of Managed IT Services on Long Island

why security is at the heart of managed it services on long island

It’s difficult to choose the most important component of managed IT services on Long Island. And that’s the whole point, really. Businesses outsource their tech support for a variety of reasons, and some value certain services more than others.

But we can at least say that there’s one factor of managed IT services that you can’t exclude. Without it, business owners wouldn’t even consider managed IT services as a viable solution.

That factor is network security. Whether you’re protecting your files against data breach or installing a firewall, security is at the heart of managed IT services. Some businesses opt for managed IT services just for the network security. From their point of view, the services automatically have a positive ROI since they prevent data breach and protect the business from hackers.

What About Now?

Charles Weaver, CEO of MSPAlliance, a California-based organization, talked about the importance of security in a recent Tech Target article. According to the article, managed IT service providers need to build a reputation through their security background:

“Security is the pinnacle of managed services. You don’t get into it by accident. You have to be known in the community and have an established relationship with people for them to want to work with you on security issues.”

You can’t just trust anyone with your network security. And you might want to think twice about working with a brand new managed service provider. If you haven’t talked to other clients or read positive reviews, you won’t really know how sophisticated their network security is.

Disaster recovery and cloud computing are great for small businesses, but they’re not quite as important as network security. When considering a managed service provider, your first questions should be focused on their security practices.

To talk more about managed IT services on Long Island, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.

Cisco Global Study: Cloud network migration / mobile security key concerns among IT decision-makers

cisco global study cloud network migration mobile security key concerns among it decision makers
Cloud network migration

The process of ordering new IT services is evolving away from those common methods used in the past, where IT decisions and purchase orders started at the top of the company pyramid.

Today, the shift in planning and control of IT purchases is being driven by departmental needs.

Does HR see a more efficient and secure way, ala Office 365/SharePoint, to store and share employee profiles and information?

What HIPPA compliance measures need to be considered when determine storage and sharing of documents?

If so, their demand may be more urgent than, say, sales; the latter may be okay for the short term using silos of separate info residing on Excel or in Outlook.

Cisco

Increasingly, those decisions to purchase new platforms are moving from the traditional top-down approach to accommodate requirements from specific ‘lines of business (LOBs),” like sales and R&D, for example; this, according to a recent global study by Cisco Consulting Services that surveyed 4,000 IT decision makers.

The reason for the shift? Mainly, it has to do with the proliferation of mobile devices and the culture of BYOD in the workplace. As such, there is a recognized need for more control in cloud network migration among departments within an organization or business. In fact, 82 percent of those surveyed by Cisco were planning welcoming more such devices, which in turn would call for compliance and security measures.

For example, if an employee is cleared to use his own mobile device, and changes to another device, what is the policy to track and store sensitive info, particularly if the employee lives the company?

Pandora’s box opens wider with each tech advance. Moreover, by the year 2016 the report expects that cloud services will account for about 27% of IT spending.

To learn more about transition certain services and software functions to the cloud, contact us. Discover why more and more clients are coming to rely on us as their managed service provider.