Data security has never been more important than it is today. Hackers continue to find new and more sophisticated methods to access confidential information. One of the ways they do this is by sourcing passwords using various methods. That is why password security must be part of your business cybersecurity policy. An IT services provider in Atlanta can help your business with password management. One of the tools that can be used is salting, and this is explained in more detail below.
The Problem with Weak Passwords
An account is only as secure as its password is strong. Sadly, many people still go with the simplest and easiest to remember passwords they can think of. Surveys have shown that some of the most commonly used passwords include “123456”, “password”, and “abc123”. When this is the case, hackers have a field day. They can take a guess or launch a dictionary attack to try numerous commonly used words until they get it right. For this reason, it’s important to educate your team about choosing strong and complex passwords. With managed security solutions in Atlanta, you can track when an abnormal number of login attempts are made. This could signal that a cyber-attack is in progress.
Why Salting Works
As much as you might drill into people the need for strong passwords, most of the time, you don’t really have a say in what they select. These days, people have so many online accounts that it can be hard to manage all the passwords. To take your password security to the next level, you can make use of salting with the help of a company that provides IT services in Atlanta. This works to further complicate what is stored in a password database so that it becomes nearly impossible to crack.
A salt is a string of random characters that are added to a password before it is hashed and stored in a password database. Hackers have been using rainbow tables and hash tables to identify passwords from their stored hashed versions. If the password is weak enough and the hash table is big enough, hackers can figure out what the passwords are and gain access to the user’s account. When a salt is added, the resulting hash cannot be easily traced back to the password.
If you’re looking to secure your business data and upgrade your password security, get in touch with MIS Solutions, Inc. We offer a range of IT services in Atlanta and can help you manage your network and data security.