Online resource for World Password Day
By Digital News Asia May 16, 2014
- Deloitte study: 90% of all passwords are vulnerable to being hacked
- Consumers urged to take pledge to change or strengthen their passwords
IN observance of the annual World Password Day on May 7, McAfee, part of Intel Security, and its partners have kicked off an effort to help educate consumers worldwide on the importance of password safety in the wake of the multiple global security breaches.
Consumers are encouraged to take the World Password Day pledge to change or strengthen their passwords by using the newly launched http://www.passwordday.org, a dedicated destination for password education, powered by Intel Security.
According to McAfee, citing a Deloitte study, 90% of all passwords are vulnerable to being hacked. In the wake of recent high-profile data breaches, it is important now more than ever for consumers to be vigilant about strengthening and changing their passwords to protect their personal information.
Last year, more than 170 organisations supported World Password Day by sharing password safety messages. Over one million passwords were assessed and 32,000 people took the pledge to strengthen their passwords, McAfee said in a statement.
This year, McAfee along with Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba, Terra, UOL, CCE, Windstream, Positivo Informática's Digital Business Area and others are encouraging consumers once again to take the time to educate themselves about password safety and be more proactive about securing their personal information.
To accompany World Password Day, consumers can now visit Passwordday.org to learn more about password safety. The site includes features such as, a password blaster web video game, password strength meter, McAfee’s Heartbleed bug checker tool, animated educational slideshow, tips and tricks for upgrading passwords, and the Official World Password Day pledge.
“While cyber-security systems and threats are getting more sophisticated, we need to remind ourselves that having strong and secure passwords remains the foundation of keeping our digital assets safe,” said David Freer, vice president of the Asia Pacific consumer business at McAfee.
“Therefore we want to encourage computer and Internet users around the world to re-evaluate their current habits and whether they are doing the simple, but necessary steps of protecting their passwords.
“With this year’s World Password Day, we hope to stress just how important strong passwords are and how something so easily taken for granted can make the biggest difference in keeping their data and privacy protected,” he accepted
Simple tips for password protection:
Consumers are encouraged to take the World Password Day pledge to change or strengthen their passwords by using the newly launched http://www.passwordday.org, a dedicated destination for password education, powered by Intel Security.
According to McAfee, citing a Deloitte study, 90% of all passwords are vulnerable to being hacked. In the wake of recent high-profile data breaches, it is important now more than ever for consumers to be vigilant about strengthening and changing their passwords to protect their personal information.
Last year, more than 170 organisations supported World Password Day by sharing password safety messages. Over one million passwords were assessed and 32,000 people took the pledge to strengthen their passwords, McAfee said in a statement.
This year, McAfee along with Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba, Terra, UOL, CCE, Windstream, Positivo Informática's Digital Business Area and others are encouraging consumers once again to take the time to educate themselves about password safety and be more proactive about securing their personal information.
To accompany World Password Day, consumers can now visit Passwordday.org to learn more about password safety. The site includes features such as, a password blaster web video game, password strength meter, McAfee’s Heartbleed bug checker tool, animated educational slideshow, tips and tricks for upgrading passwords, and the Official World Password Day pledge.
“While cyber-security systems and threats are getting more sophisticated, we need to remind ourselves that having strong and secure passwords remains the foundation of keeping our digital assets safe,” said David Freer, vice president of the Asia Pacific consumer business at McAfee.
“Therefore we want to encourage computer and Internet users around the world to re-evaluate their current habits and whether they are doing the simple, but necessary steps of protecting their passwords.
“With this year’s World Password Day, we hope to stress just how important strong passwords are and how something so easily taken for granted can make the biggest difference in keeping their data and privacy protected,” he accepted
Simple tips for password protection:
- Choose length vs. complexity (use 14+ characters)
- Use a password manager
- Change passwords regularly
- Use different passwords for bank, email and other sites
- Use case-sensitive alphanumerics
- Don’t use any dates or facts that can be found online
- Don’t text, email or casually share your passwords
- Don’t use simple passwords (123456, password, qwerty, etc.)
- Don’t use one word passwords
Related Stories:
The end of passwords, and other IT predictions
Fortinet advocates two-factor authentication as breaches escalate
Heartbleed being monitored by CSM and MCMC
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