Change Your Password

Imagine waking up and realizing that your social media account, email, or even your bank account has been hacked. That’s certainly unsettling! With the increase in online transactions and activities, illegal hacking seems to be a booming business. One of the first proactive steps you can take starts with your PASSWORD. Many hackers admit that most online users have poor security because we form simple, easy-to-remember passwords, and then use them for all of our accounts. When you log in to any account, it is important to remember the significance of your password.  At CNB, we are here to help by giving you a few tips:

Tip #1: Complexity vs. Length:

Historically, the focus on complexity was based on making it difficult for hackers to crack passwords “beyond the alphabet” (symbols and numbers). However, enforcing this rule often leads to us re-using the foundation of our password with a minor modification. For example: [email protected], changed to [email protected]. Attackers are well aware of these strategies, so if they have access to a list of old passwords, they can quickly figure out new passwords.

Statistically, longer, simpler passwords are harder to crack than shorter, more complex ones. The minimum length of a password should still be eight characters, but we recommend going higher than that! If memorizing a string of random characters seems daunting to you, you’re not alone! Have you ever used passphrases? This enables you, the user, to come up with a long password based on a series of more familiar words, which is more effective. For example, a 25-character password like “BEING CYBERSAFE WITH CNB!” is easy to remember, but will take a significant amount of time to crack. 

Tip #2: 

Never use the same password across different applications/accounts!  Instead, use separate passphrases that are easier for you to remember based on the application! For example, I have Facebook and PC Banking that I log into regularly.  For Facebook, I could choose “DontyouDAREtryHackinMePal!” and for PC Banking I could use “I Just Love my #1 PC Banking from CNB!”. 

Tip #3

Use MFA!  MFA stands for Multi-Factor Authentication and there are 3 types:

• something you know: a password, PIN, or secret answer to a question
• something you have: a smartcard, physical token or key fob, or mobile device 
• something you are: retinal scan, fingerprint, voice, or facial recognition 

Utilizing MFA, whenever it is offered, is a great second step to your account security!

That’s all for National Change Your Password Day, so go ahead, get changing those risky passwords!