This Is What Happens When You Don’t Update To Strong Passwords

ADAPTISTRATION-GUY-091A friend and colleague wrote to me earlier this week saying “Ok, ok. I give in. I’ll be changing all of my passwords to the ridiculous ones that LastPass gives me – even the ones that I have 2-step verification.” At first I felt a rush of pride thinking that the articles about the importance of password security inspired positive change “this is probably what it feel like to rescue someone from a burning car” said a tiny voice in my head, then I read the rest of her letter and discovered that her decision was the result of the news that Russian Hackers made off with more than a billion internet user account credentials (usernames/passwords).

Yes, that’s a billion with a capital “B” and that rhymes with “P” and stands for passwords.

So it was stone cold fear and the realization that yes, very bad people are doing very bad things all of which is made a little easier when you don’t use strong passwords.

Fortunately, you don’t have to contribute to the problem nor do you need to be an intellectual peer of Stephen Hawking to remember a password worth using. Just take the time to read these two brief articles that walk you through understanding what goes into a strong password and pointing you toward tools that help whittle down those alphanumeric mountains into manageable mole hills.

[ilink url=”https://adaptistration.com/blog/2013/01/25/eliminate-password-fail-time-suck-once-and-for-all/”]Password management made easy.[/ilink]

[ilink url=”https://adaptistration.com/blog/2012/06/04/change-your-password-already/”]How to create a strong password.[/ilink]

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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