As you know passwords is to prevent identity theft and other cybercrimes. Therefore there is a need of strong password to be created by every person whether it is B2B or B2C customers. bout 80% of data breaches in 2019 were caused by password compromise Password breach. Often people are seen reusing password and using password for many of the accounts, which results in breach of password by the perpetrators easily. Therefore there is a requirement of awareness from all the stake holders how to create a strong and complex password and how to change the password construct regularly. Keeping this in mind the global chipset maker
According to the Asia Pacific consumers surveyed, when using a new website or online service, the main frustrations are creating a password that has to meet certain requirements (53%), entering private information such as a passport number, tax file number, medical card number, etc. (52%) and having to fill in long login or sign up forms (50%).
In fact, consumers across APAC find password management more frustrating than their European counterparts. Only 44% of consumers surveyed in Europe find creating a password that must meet certain requirements frustrating, and 42% are frustrated by having to enter private information.
This frustration leads to 89% of APAC consumers reusing passwords for more than one account – and more than half (51%) admitted to doing so frequently. And it’s not just in Asia Pacific. Across the world, password reuse is still alive and well, with nearly nine in ten consumers (88%) admitting to the practice.
Keeping all the consideration in mind, way back in 2013, Intel had created World Password Day on the first Thursday of May (May 6) and the first World Password Day! was celebrated in 2013.
Principal Cybersecurity Strategist of VMware Security Business Unit, Rick McElroy says, “Using a password is as antiquated as using a standard key on your front door — it’s locked but someone can copy the key or pick the lock and still get access. For this reason, it’s important to prioritize multi-factor authentication, in the form of behavioral and continual authentication, and move away from a central store of identities, which can easily be hacked. Moving forward, we’ll begin to witness hand and fingerprint biomarkers, two-factor authentication with a mobile device and facial recognition replace traditional password authentication processes. At some point in the future, DNA will probably be used to verify identity in the medical field. Long term, I could see a future where a combination of measurements like a heartbeat and brain waves could be used, making it more difficult than ever for cybercriminals to break the digital lock.”
Jacqueline Jayne Security Awareness Advocate, KnowBe4 APAC, added, “The average person has anywhere between 70 and 100 passwords, and it is simply not possible to remember them all. Especially when you consider that passwords need to be unique, complex, and depending on where you read it anywhere between 8 and 20 characters.”
When it comes to password hygiene we still have a long way to go.
Richard Marr, General Manager, APAC at Auth0 maintained: “Consumers are frustrated with the standard password and username method of authentication. As humans, we aren’t suited to remembering long, complex alphanumeric combinations, and need easier, faster and more secure forms of authentication, and it’s partly because of this that we’re seeing a rise in successful cybercrime. It’s time we consider the role of businesses in promoting a safer internet by offering more secure and convenient alternatives to passwords.”
Following is the recommendation from Richard for Businesses
“For businesses, this is an opportunity to listen to their customers and make changes to the login process. Technologies exist to stop users from getting frustrated, while protecting them against fraud. “Passwordless and biometric security are already mainstays of multifactor authentication, and adaptive technologies are already on the market that can offer that security without the friction. “We need to see technology adapt to humans, not the other way around. Passwords will inevitably make way for alternatives that are driven by the adoption of the WebAuthn standard, but businesses need to prepare for that transition now.”
Following is the recommendation from Richard for Consumers
“These findings show that for many of us, the password hygiene message simply hasn’t yet sunk in deeper than the frustrations we feel. This means our personal data, often across multiple platforms and accounts, could be at risk. World Password Day is the perfect reminder for all of us to take stock of our apps and online accounts, and carve out a bit of time today to download a password manager across our devices and develop strong, unique passwords.”
Dr. Catarina Katzer, a leading cyber psychologist, adds: “The majority of online users are now well aware that there are security problems with using the same username and password combination to register for multiple services. But we try to suppress that psychologically in the brain. The more extensive a registration process appears, the less inclined we are to go through with it. Convenience and simplicity play a major role here, which means we need to rethink security [in a way that doesn’t compromise the customer experience].”
Following are some tips from Jacqueline that one can do to keep the passwords secure, strong and safe:
- Keep your passwords private – never share a password with anyone else.
- Never ever reuse a password (ever).
- Invest in a Password Manager Tool .
- Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) when you can and where it makes sense.
- Use passwords of at least eight (8) characters or more (longer is better).
- Use a combination of uppercase letters, lower case letters, numbers, and special characters (for example: !, @, &, %, +) in all passwords.
- On the web, if you think your password may have been compromised, change it at once and then check your other website accounts for misuse.
And if one is looking to create a create a strong, complex password, here’s a way to develop a strong password that’s very hard to crack:
- Think of a phrase or sentence with at least eight words. It should be something easy for you to remember but hard for someone who knows you to guess. It could be a line from a favourite poem, story, movie, song lyric, or quotation you like. Example: “I Want To Put A Dent In The Universe”
- Remove all but the first letter of each word in your phrase: IWTPADITU
- Replace several of the upper-case letters with lowercase ones, at random: iWtpADitU
- Now substitute a number for at least one of the letters. (Here, we’ve changed the capital “I” to the numeral 1: iWtpAD1tU
- Finally, use special characters ( $, &, +, !, @) to replace a letter or two — preferably a letter that is repeated in the phrase. You can also add an extra character to the mix. (Here, we’ve replaced the “t” with “+”, and added an exclamation point at the end.) : iW+pAD1tU!
