Posts Tagged ‘secure’
When it comes to passwords, length is what matters
Ever heard the rumor that you need upper case letters, lower case letters, symbols, and numbers in your passwords? This is called “password complexity.” If you have to keep password complexity for compliance reasons, you have no choice, but otherwise—make your life easier—just switch to passwords that are 15 characters or longer—commonly referred to as passphrases.
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Microsoft releasing important patch Today at 1pm Eastern
Early this week a major bug was discovered in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer – IE – that would allow code imbedded in web sites to potentially exploit the computers who visit those sites. This has many people wondering if they should use a different browser besides IE.
Some people choose to use a different browser other than IE. I use Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer depending on the task. You may choose to switch browsers or use other browsers as well. Just keep in mind that ALL browsers need to stay patched and current. If your organization uses WSUS for patches, keep in mind that WSUS will patch IE but will not patch Firefox centrally – a reason to consider staying on IE.
The most important thing is, no matter what browser you use, be sure to keep all the applications, operating systems, and firmware in your devices patched with the latest security patches. If you continue to use IE, be sure to backup your computers and apply the patch using a staged deployment when Microsoft releases the patch on Wednesday.
Answers to the trouble with passwords
One of the biggest problems with passwords is that secure ones seem hard to remember, need to be changed often, and should be phrases with numbers and symbols instead of just single words that can be found in a dictionary. Many organizations have a culture where the IT department has been instructed to allow users to keep insecure passwords. Rather than fight this battle, consider using two factor authentication: something the user has plus something they know. For example, www.phonefactor.net uses
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