Protect your IT services by getting this one "basic" right…

A successful football team doesn't just depend on its goalkeeper making amazing saves, or its central defenders making that last-ditch interception. 

It relies on every player making it difficult for the opponent. Nobody on the opposing team should get past the first challenge easily.

As a long-established provider of IT services in Bristol, we'd like to draw a parallel between this and the world of business IT systems.

You see, if it's important to make the first challenge a strong one on the football pitch, it's just like that when it comes to setting passwords for your IT systems.

Passwords, although not the ultimate or the strongest means of securing your IT networks and user accounts, are still used widely as a means of controlling access - and they're very much your 'first line of defence'.

First, set up a strong password policy

An IT systems administrator will know about the importance of a good password policy, and will show your staff how to choose secure and memorable passwords that keep your files and hardware reasonably well protected. 

What if you don't have a systems administrator yet? Perhaps you're a smaller business, using outsourced IT services as and when needs require?

Even if you're completely non-technical, you can still get this important basic right and contribute to a more secure password regime for your company.

Your aim is to encourage your colleagues to choose virtually indestructible password combinations that aren't that difficult to remember.

First, read this separate article from Chorus IT on how to choose strong passwords. Then you could follow any or all of the following steps:

• Decide on a few example pass phrases to get your colleagues started, which they can then encode their own way (although don't write them down);
• Come up with a list of 'banned words' to use in passwords that would be too easy to guess;
• Make a list of minimum requirements (e.g. 6 letters, 2 numbers and a punctuation mark);
• Set up a regime in which your staff must renew their user account passwords periodically (your IT support firm may be able to help with this);
• Obtain a list of likely default passwords or common sysadmin passwords that should never be used (again, something to ask your IT support firm).

Chorus IT has been working with businesses in Bristol for over 10 years as an outsourced IT services provider, so if you need practical help (or even a frank discussion) on how to make your IT systems more secure and your passwords foolproof, call us on 01275 398900.