by Kassidy Thompson and John Fulton

In today’s world where we are using mobile applications and online sites for both business and personal purposes, it has become important to be using good practices for creating and managing our log-in details; in particular passwords.  In 2021, there have been several cybersecurity attacks including 2 agriculture retailers being hit with ransomware.  For an individual, having a plan in place and using available resources to help with managing log-in details is important even for farmers.  Here are several tips and suggestions for managing passwords.

Tips & Tricks

• Use password management software or platforms such as LastPass
• Make each password unique, using combinations of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols
• Use Two-Step Verification such as DuoPush when available
• Enable alerts for suspicious activity
• Ensure that there is a way to recover your password
• Change passwords when made aware of a security breach
• Don’t share passwords
• Delete old and inactive accounts

Making Strong Passwords

• Don’t use common phrases or default passwords such as “12345” or “password”
• Consider using long phrases such as a short quote, but rearrange it and add in numbers or symbols
• String “random” words together
• Do not use personal information such as your birth date or part of your name

Finally, it is not if a data breach will happen today but rather when.  Most companies have good cybersecurity in place and contingency plans if there is an attack on their platform.  Here are a few suggestions if a data breach occurs.

Data Breach: Steps to Take

• Identify the specifics to what data was breached
• Change passwords immediately
• If it contains financial information, notify banks and check your credit report