Tips for Changing Your Password

Synagex celebrates #ChangeYourPasswordDay with some helpful statistics and tips!

When was the last time you audited your passwords? "Change Your Password Day" is a great unofficial reminder to review your current passwords, and change any that you've been using for too long. Here's some signs you need to change your password:

• You can't remember when you last changed it.

• You are re-using it on another account.

• You have shared it with someone at some point.

• You have realized you're using weak password(s)

How do you know a password is weak?

These charts show password strength against being hacked through brute force. The range of password length and complexity is compared to the time it would take to hack that password through brute force.

Generally, the longer your password is, and the more complex it is, then the stronger it is. Password complexity is determined by the use different types of text characters—numbers, lowercase letters, uppercase letters, and symbols. As you can see, using all 4 these character types yields the most fortified password.

Let's take a closer look—notice how a password of 8 characters that has all the complexity of numbers, upper & lowercase letters AND symbols can still be hacked in under 40 minutes?! This is why length is also an important factor when creating strong passwords, and brings to attention a really important issue to keep in mind:

❗You can actually meet many minimum password complexity requirements when creating new passwords... and still be left with a pretty WEAK password❗

Have strong passwords, but still due for an update?

If you are due for a password update, we recommend to create new passwords of 15+ characters... and go crazy with complexity.

To put it simply, the longer and more complex your password is... the more IMPOSSIBLE it becomes to hack it!

"Changing your password does not mean just adding 1 to the end of your current password".

Now, let's say you have a 15+ character complex password already... great job! However, when you change it, it is very important that you are not just simply adding 1 to the end of what you currently have—this kind of defeats the whole point of changing it! In this video, our VP of Operations, Leah, reminds us of this, and also shares some strong password tips that you DO want to implement.

Happy password changing, folks!

Synagex Celebrates Data Privacy Week

Data Privacy Week is intended to spread awareness about online privacy among individuals & organizations—encouraging individuals to embrace the power they have to manage their data and to enforce the respect of user data by organizations 🙌

We're Data Privacy Week Champions!

When it comes to data privacy... Let's talk about one major factor: CONVENIENCE!

You can count on security and data privacy always being a tradeoff for convenience.

Data privacy and cybersecurity really go hand in hand 🤝 so our advice is similar... stay aware!!

Your data tells a story about you, and many organizations are eager to get their hands on it to use it to their advantage. This data can include your name, location, internet activity, and even your health information.

79% of Americans are Worried about the Privacy of Their Data—are You?

Id you are worried about the privacy of your data, here are 3 ways to better protect it:

1. Think about what you want to share.

❗Pay attention to those pop-ups that ask you if you want to share your photos, location, etc. with a new app or website... you may not want to everything they are asking for (like contacts, location, photos, web activity and more)!

2. Check your privacy settings.

⚙️ Check the privacy settings on your existing apps—look for app permissions in your devices general settings. Many can at least be updated to only have access to your data while you are using it (rather than all the time!)

3. Delete the apps you don't use.

❌ Delete your old / unused apps—Do an audit on your data-sharing apps (likely ALL OF THEM!) Your data may still be being collected and shared, as long as it is still on your device.

When it comes to Data Privacy, it's important to understand that your favorite retailers and advertisers aren't the only ones who are collecting and utilizing your data... there are bad actors that can be utilizing it too!

In this video, Pete explains that this is exactly how phishing attempts get so tailored...

🤔 Makes you think twice about #DataPrivacy, right?!

How to Identify Cybersecurity Risk in Your Organization

How do you begin identifying security risk in your organization?

We like to think the rainbow—the risk rainbow 🌈

Here's how it works:

🎯 Every business has a Mission Critical Asset at its core that needs protecting! That could mean your design elements, financial data, sensitive employee or client information—or even CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information).

🧐 Looking at the rainbow here, we can see the many ways that the door can be opened to this Mission Critical Asset—these are where the potential security vulnerabilities exist. From physical doors 🚪 to network breaches, to compromised endpoint devices—and especially the outermost layer of HUMANS.

🔐 Now, work to secure the layers with the most risk(like the humans!)

Remember, you will never prevent cybersecurity threats completely, but by maintaining secure layers you'll be able to stop a threat actor in their tracks 😉

Here's a short video from our CEO that goes a bit more in-depth:

Our president and CEO, John Sinopoli, was recently a speaker at the MITRE Advanced Manufacturing event. The event provided information and resources for small to medium sized manufacturers in the Massachusetts area, and John's presentation, "Cyber Security Assessments for Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturers", was meant to raise awareness about the cybersecurity risks within many organizations.

Watch the full video to learn more about our rainbow layers approach to understanding cybersecurity risk opportunities, and how you can use this approach to better secure your business.

Want to take it to the next level?

Contact us to begin a cybersecurity assessment for your organization—we'll lay out an achievable plan and strategy to set you on the path to CMMC compliance, or just better cyber hygiene. ✆ ℡ 413.650.5230