Password Policies - The Final Lock On The Door

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Password Policies - The Final Lock On The Door

There are many elements to securing your business data, but one that gets widely overlooked is the inclusion of a strong password policy.  Although a 128 character password that is changed on a daily basis is secure, it is not that practical.  What policies can you apply to make unlawful access that little bit harder?

‘But all my users have passwords’ I hear you cry.  Well, that may be the case but how long would it take another user or hacker to break that password?

Most users will use something that is easy for them to remember which in turn can normally be worked out by a colleague.  These types of password will usually consist of a name or word easily found in the dictionary.  Passwords like this wouldn’t last five minutes when up against someone trying to break into your systems.

The art of a good strong password policy is to be complex and simple at the same time.  The complexity comes in the form of the type of characters you allow users to use and the simplicity is how the user uses them.

But where do you start?  Well, different companies use different systems which will have a bearing on what rules you can set.

So having decided that you want the added protection of a password policy, what criteria can you set?  Users in a Windows environment can set the following:-

  • Maximum password age (in days)
  • Minimum password age (in days)
  • Minimum number of characters
  • Enforce password history; prevents the user from using a set number of past passwords
  • Enforced complexity
    • Minimum of 6 characters
    • Must use three of the following:-
      • Uppercase character
      • Lowercase character
      • Numbers
      • Non-alphabetic characters

By making sure users use complex password and change them regularly you can significantly reduce security issues down to poor passwords.

Now that you have contemplated the risks and seen what can be done how do you go about putting this in place?

That’s where telanova can help.  With our experience we can not only advise you on what options you have we also can set everything up for you and help plan to ensure that the whole change is as smooth as it possibly can be without inconveniencing your staff.

If you would like more details on how telanova can help secure your business please do not hesitate in contacting us.

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