Commercial Integrator June 2022 - 12

THE SERVICE DESK
11 Best Practices for Password Security
A password manager will make your life easier and more secure, while silencing that nagging
voice in your head. By Tim Singleton
WE ALL KNOW the password mantra:
Make it long, strong and unique. Also,
include upper-case letters, lower-case letters,
numbers and special characters. And
don't forget to use diff erent passwords
everywhere - at least eight characters,
but preferably more. Plus, remember to
change them frequently. Phew! And as if all
that weren't enough, here's another: Never
write them down.
Therein lies the rub. We log into hundreds
of diff erent websites these days. How
can anyone remember that many strong
passwords? We simply can't.
So, what do we all do? We cheat! We
use passwords like " Netfl ixSpring2022! "
or " AmazonSummer2022! " all over the
place. Sure, those follow all the guidelines.
But, if I'm a hacker and I see your password,
then changing it isn't going to throw
me off for very long. And I can probably
guess your bank password, too.
The problem is simple enough: What
makes for a good password also makes for
a hard-to-remember password. It's a wellknown
" law " in the computing world that
there is a tradeoff between security and
convenience. Strong passwords defi nitely
fall into this category.
There is a magical solution to this problem:
password managers. They represent
one of the rare joys in the IT world that can
increase security and convenience. So,
let's dig into them.
A good password manager is an
encrypted database of all your usernames
and passwords. It will integrate with your
web browser so that it can fi ll in your passwords
automatically (or make them easy to
copy and paste).
Allow me to sharpen this point a bit
by means of repetition: These password
managers are encrypted! That means
you can write down your passwords and
they will remain safe. That also means you
don't need to make them memorable
12
Commercial Integrator JUNE 2022
It's a well-known " law " in the computing world that a trade-off exists between
security and convenience. Strong passwords certainly exemplify this trade off .
anymore. That, in turn, means you can use
T5Q4t$ZGSrtue*uCF*f! as your password,
and you'll never have to worry about mistyping
it, forgetting it or having someone
guess it. And you can use a diff erent password
on every website with ease!
Once your password manager is set up,
you should only have to remember two
passwords for the rest of your life: The fi rst is
your computer password; the second is the
one that unlocks your password manager.
What follows are 11 best practices to
ensure you're set up right. But keep this
foremost in your mind: Protect the keys
to the kingdom! Since all your passwords
are in one place, you'll want to get extra
protection here. Thus, the fi rst several best
practices pertain to the password manager.
1. Use a real password manager,
not your browser's password tool. All
modern web browsers will off er to save
your passwords for you, usually doing so
by default. Be wary of this. Some of them
are not well encrypted, and most of them
don't off er the features that dedicated
password managers do. They also tend to
be easy to break into from other browsers
you're signed into.
2. Disable/clear your web-browser
password tool. If you are going to use
a third-party password manager, then
disable the password tool in your browser.
Otherwise, you may get confused about
where the password is being saved. While
you're at it, aſt er you've migrated all your
passwords into the manager, delete them
from the browser tool entirely.
3. Use a great password manager
password (PMP). This is sometimes called
the " master password " or the " account
password. " It's the password that unlocks
the password manager. Make this one good
- really good. Whoever has this password
has all your passwords. I suggest using a
passphrase - not just a password - and
including punctuation. Something like " TaylorSwiſt
IsAGoddess!!<3 " is long, complex
and memorable. Change it once a year.
4. Use two-factor authentication
(2FA)/multi-factor authentication
(MFA). Add 2FA or MFA to unlock the
password manager. It's a small bit of inconcommercialintegrator.com
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Commercial Integrator June 2022

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