Passwords – The Lock or The Key?

Did you know that the average business person has 191 passwords. Those 191 credentials are the gateway to personal and financial information.

According to a report by LastPass, 81% of confirmed data breaches are due to passwords. Yet 61% of people continue to use the same or a similar password everywhere, despite knowing that it is not a secure practice. The average email address is associated with 130 accounts.

There are a number of fundamental steps that you can be taking to help secure your credentials.

• Do not use personal information in your passwords.
• Create long passwords; and include special characters.
• Avoid writing your passwords down. Find yourself a secure password manager and establish good habits of consistently securing each password.
• Change your passwords on a regular basis.
• Do not use the same password across accounts-particularly financial accounts.

So, what is the next step in locking down our credentials?

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is a second layer of security to protect an account or system. Users must go through two layers of security before being granted access to an account or system. 2FA increases the safety of online accounts by requiring two types of information from the user, such as a password or PIN, an email account, an ATM card or fingerprint, before the user can log in. The first factor is the password; the second factor is the additional item.

At Jarrettsville Federal we take your security seriously, but it is up to you to take it seriously as well. To find out more about our secure mobile and online accounts, visit us at www.jarrettsvillefederal.com, or stop by our branch on Norrisville Rd.