Is your password 'Password'? Let's Have a Quick Chat.
Strong password practices are an important part of protecting your campus community. The longer, more unique, and more unpredictable your password is, the harder it is for cybercriminals to crack. And if you're thinking, "There is no way I'm remembering all those passwords," a password manager may be an option, depending on your school's available tools and policies.
A few password practices to promote:
- Make it unique. Use a different password for every account.
- Keep it unpredictable. Avoid common words, phrases, or patterns, and use a mix of letters and numbers.
- Skip the personal stuff. Names, birthdays, pets, and favorite sports teams can make passwords easier to guess.
Sorry, Hackers, There's Another Step.
Passwords are important, but they shouldn't have to do all the heavy lifting. For institutions of higher education, making strong multifactor authentication (MFA) practices accessible and easy to use can help protect the many accounts connected to campus systems, applications, and data.
Give accounts a little extra backup:
- Review your MFA coverage. Regularly assess which systems and applications have MFA enabled and where additional coverage may be needed.
- Prioritize stronger methods. Encourage authenticator apps when available, rather than relying solely on text messages.
- Unexpected or repeated authentication prompts can be a sign that someone is attempting to access an account.
Keep Ignoring that Update. Hackers Won't Mind.
You have 47 tabs open, and somehow, you need every single one. Naturally, your computer decides now is the perfect time for an update. We get it—having to close all those tabs feels personal. But those updates often include security fixes for specific vulnerabilities that hackers could use to access your device or data. For higher education IT teams, keeping software current across a campus requires more than individual users staying on top of notifications—it takes consistent processes and visibility across the environment.