Security expert urges computer users to strengthen their passwords

By SearchSMBAsia Editors | Mar 13, 2009

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Computer users have been urged to assess the strength of their passwords and ensure that they are choosing unique and multiple passwords for every different sensitive account in order to thwart hackers and protect their personal and corporate identities.

A study released by IT security and control firm Sophos revealed that only 19% of users properly protect their identities by using unique passwords.

According to experts at Sophos, many computer users continue to overlook the importance of choosing strong passwords.  When asked the same question three years ago, 41% admitted to using the same password for all websites, with just 14% always using a different one.

Sophos advises all computer users to ensure they don’t use dictionary words as passwords as it is relatively easy for hackers to figure these out using electronic dictionaries that simply try out every word until they get the right one. Furthermore, it’s important not to choose common passwords like ‘admin’ or ‘1234’as cybercriminals also check these first.  In fact, the Conficker worm uses lists of 200 common passwords to try and gain access to other computers on the network, meaning that if one employee is infected, the whole corporate network could quickly be compromised if strong passwords are not enforced.