In the News
The issue of password security continues to be a topic of discussion on a large-scale platform. In California passes law that bans default passwords in connected devices, Zack Whittaker from TechCrunch discusses a new law in California beginning in 2020 that requires consumer electronics to be programmed with a unique default password that must be changed by the consumer prior to use. Whittaker also explains that this law bans common and unsafe passwords such as ‘password’ from being used.
Our Take
Passwords are the first line of defense in protecting the personal information stored in any one of your many online accounts. By understanding safe password practices, you are able to take an initiative to protect your information regardless of the security practices set in place by the platform managing your online accounts. However, failing to maintain safe password practices can result in your accounts being breached by hackers. The use of electronic devices needing passwords is commonplace and California’s legal action to ensure devices are secure is highly beneficial. While one should always create new and unique passwords for their accounts, many people unfortunately do not. This new law will help to reduce the damages that can occur from having common passwords at least in California. California will serve as a test subject for this type of legal control on device configuration practices and hopefully, other states will continue in this line of thought to protect their citizens’ online information.
Recommendations
So how can you protect your devices while ensuring your password is protected?
- Refrain from choosing passwords that contain a simple word or phrase–create strong passwords and change them periodically – the longer the better.
- Make sure to change default passwords (if you are not already required to) to a unique password
- Use password managers such as LastPass or KeePass to keep track of account credentials, rather than reusing the same passwords across multiple accounts
- Do not make your passwords or security questions/answers out of information that can be found on your social media or easily guessed
- Stay up to date on news covering recent scams and breaches to see if you may have been affected