Having to enter passwords all the time ranks right up there with root canals (see my previous post about how much I love dentists).

Now add to that pain >
The need to K33pThemC0mp!ex
The need to change them every 60 or 90 days
The fact they can’t be the same ones you used before
The fact that every time you go online you have to sign up for a new account with a new password
The fact someone really smart told you not to use the same password on every site/portal
The fact that now you have something like 4,521passwords
The fact you have to remember those 4,521 passwords

So that changes things a bit. Now passwords are more like a colonoscopy.

Awkward medical exams are generally good for your health you tell yourself. It doesn’t mean you have to like them however.

Hey – what if your intrusive scope found a problem and surgery was required? Kind of a good news / bad news situation isn’t it…?

Well, passwords are the same. They are a huge pain and a good protection, but often more is required to truly care for your health. Here is what I mean:

Hackers don’t just try to guess your passwords. They use powerful hacking tools that take only seconds or minutes to crack. As an example, a recent study showed these estimated crack time estimates:
blah11 (one you might be tempted to use when asked for another password change!) – Crack Time: 1.3 seconds
S3ash311 (a complex version of the word Seashell; pretty good you’d think) – Crack Time: 2.5 seconds
See way more info here > https://wpengine.com/unmasked/
Hackers don’t generally target you because you’re so important and you’re worth the time of trying to guess your password. Instead, they try to hack into the companies who hold your accounts (aka. LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.). If/when they break in, they steal millions of passwords and then start pulling on your door handles*. Or they sell them on the Dark Web (kind of like the black market of the internet) so others can try to pull on your door handles.
This means you need more than just a complex password that you can remember.
You need a password manager program.
You need multi-factor authentication.
You need to monitor your accounts for breaches and exposure on the Dark Web.

Looking after all of this feels like going for surgery doesn’t it…? You hate that you have to have it. It will be painful, inconvenient, and even if all works successfully, you won’t be quite as fast and flexible as you were before. But you know it is necessary. So 2 vital things:
Don’t do the surgery yourself. Get an expert, a specialist to do it.
Don’t procrastinate.

Implementing new password policies, a password manager program, multi-factor authentication tools, and dark web monitoring at your business requires surgery. Bralin can be your specialist and care for the operation (implementing the solutions). You’ll have to work along with the recovery, the physiotherapy, and maintaining healthy habits post-surgery (the rollout to your staff and ongoing enforcement). You’ll hate it. We hate it. We complain about our password processes all the time. But – our life, our business, is worth it. And eventually, the pain goes away and you say, “Wow, I should have done that sooner.”

Please call me to find out how Bralin can help you with your surgery (or to complain about how much you hate passwords).

*Pulling on door handles. This is a popular method used to steal cars in my community. Thieves casually walk by parked cars and pull the door handles. If it is locked they move on. But they’ll always find one that is not locked. Once inside, they look for anything valuable. And way too many times they find the keys in the cupholder, in the ignition, etc. You know computer hackers (thieves) are doing the same right?

Jeremy
April 2019