Passwords: Ways to avoid risks of losing precious data

Maruful Islam can vividly recall the moment when he had stepped into work two decades ago in a very normal setting. Looking around his office desk after long 20 years, he feels he is dealing with more data and information than ever before.

You may not be convinced at what he feels when the world is gradually walking towards a paperless workplace. But you can go for a quick check and look at how many tools you are using that just help you manage information. You will now surely be convinced about the massive shift that the world has seen over a decade.

In the era of advanced technology, data and information have apparently been the most valuable asset for the people across the world. It plays a massive role even in world politics, let alone in a country, or in individual life.

In one hand, technology has made it possible to easily store a huge sum of data and trade them in less than a second within or beyond the boundary. On the other hand, the unethical ones have found it easier to obtain sensitive data by hacking different devices or online accounts.

When a criminal block possesses sensitive data of influential people, they will definitely try their best to reap the highest benefit of it.

So it is now an undisputed matter that security of data is the most important thing in today's world.

Data are normally secured by a single password. But in most cases, people are not that much aware of setting a strong password for the protection of their sensitive data. They frequently use some common digits which can easily be assumed or accessed.

Talking to The Business Standard, Arif Mainuddin, a cyber-security analyst and founder of Decodes Lab Ltd, said people in most cases use their mobile phone number or last six digits of the number as password.

Such unguarded and insensitive attitude towards the sensitive issue make them more vulnerable. The hackers or unethical ones do not find it so difficult to collect their mobile numbers, as well as to hack their accounts containing important data, he said.

Sometimes, people use names of their children or nearer ones as password. These passwords can also cracked easily by the expert hackers within few moments.

To keep data protected, he advised people to refrain from using common digits as passwords.

In Bangladesh, girls are frequently being subjected to cyber hacking. The cyber-security analyst mentioned cyber phishing as the widely used method for hacking Facebook accounts.

At initial stage, the hackers send a message containing a link to the targets and said some indecent photos of the girls are preserved here. If they want to delete the photos, they have to log in through the link.

Once the girls follow the instructions, the hackers can obtain their passwords and access all data preserved in their accounts. Such incidents have now been frequent in Bangladesh, he added.

He also mentioned that around 70 to 80 percent of the cases he has so far dealt with are related to young girls.

What about global scenario?

The situation is not far better in other parts of the world. People are still not that much cautious while setting their passwords.

According to a recent research by password management company NordPass, people are still using easy-to-hack passwords like "123456789," the word "password," and "iloveyou."

Of the 200 worst passwords, "123456" is the most commonly used in 2020, with 2,543,285 people choosing it. It takes less than a second to crack.

Despite several reminders from the cyber-security experts, no significant improvement has been recorded this year in comparison to that of previous year.

NordPass said after comparing the list of the most common passwords of 2020 to that of 2019, little has been done to make a difference.

The list of passwords was created by a third-party company specializing in data breach research, NordPass said.

In total, they looked at a database with 275,699,516 passwords.

New to the top 10 this year is "picture1" and "senha" which means "password" in Portuguese.

The top 10 most common passwords were- 123456, 123456789, picture1, password, 12345678, 111111, 123123, 12345, 1234567890, and senha

If your password is on the list, it's probably time to make a change quickly.

NordPass suggested that people avoid using dictionary words, predictable number combinations, or strings of adjacent keyboard combinations.

And this should go without saying -- but under no circumstances you should use a password based on any personal details like your phone number, birth date, or name.

NordPass suggests changing your passwords every 90 days with a mix of upper and lowercase letters, and creating a different password for each of your accounts.

Keep changing your passwords time to time, keep your personal data protected.