Make password security your New Year resolution!

We’ve all been there. You go to log onto that website you use once in a blue moon and you’re suddenly baffled about the username and password you thought of when you first signed up.

And with so much of our lives happening online these days – banking, work, emails, paying bills, shopping – it’s not surprising that it’s a struggle to remember the multitude of different combinations you need for everything.

But making sure you have different passwords and change them regularly is so important, as the number of attacks and hacks is on the increase. After all, if an organisation like Yahoo! is vulnerable to attack – it recently disclosed that a breach of more than one billion user accounts occurred in August 2013 – so are you!

So, if it’s not already, your New Year’s resolution for 2017 should be to improve your password security. If you’re looking at your own personal computer, consider one of the secure password managers to keep you protected.

At Bespoke Computing, we’re always looking ahead for the next development to ensure our clients’ IT systems remain as safe as possible. New security options we’re offering in 2017 include:

Vasco for multi-factor authentication. They make the banking fobs that the high street bank HSBC uses and the fob system is also available to get onto your computer. It’s not very expensive – a 10-user installation with hardware tokens is £1,000 plus the installation cost.

KnowBe4 for cyber awareness training – it’s really important to educate your staff not to click on the links in emails. This user training will reduce the likelihood of a phishing attack on your IT system and is well worth the peace of mind at just £50 per user per year for this training.

DESlock for full disk encryption. Disk encryption isn’t a new thing but it’s something that’s fallen out of favour with users in recent years although it will stop your information falling into the wrong hands, even if your system gets hacked. A ballpark cost for a license is £50 per year for a laptop.

Security starts with the basics (password management) and is then enhanced with multiple layers of protection. Getting the right layers in place with the minimum of challenge to yourself or your staff is the trick. That’s where we can help.

Happy New Year!