Do you know how long it takes for a hacker to crack your password? In some cases, less time than it took you to read this sentence. While a longer and more complex password takes extra time to crack, your passwords still might not be as strong as you think. In a 2018 study by KeeperSecurity, it was found that 17% of accounts were protected by the password 123456. That’s one in five accounts in the US being protected by… basically nothing.
According to cybersecurity firm Hive Systems, each time a character is added to a password, it increases the amount of time for a hacker to figure it out. Mixing letters with numbers and special characters makes stealing your password even more difficult. As time goes on, the technology available to help hackers achieve their goals grows more advanced; meaning that your once-strong password may now be compromised.
- A 7-character, all lowercase–letter password takes less than a millisecond to crack
- A 12-character password of mixed lowercase letters takes roughly 300 years
- A 12-character password of mixed uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters would take 34,000 years
And the really scary part is that these numbers have gone done considerably in the last few years. What used to take months now takes minutes.
It’s Time to Act vs. React
When it comes to being hacked, with the advances in technology, it’s not if but when. With that in mind, acting versus reacting may save your company a huge headache—not to mention the costs associated with a data breach. Unless of course you have a spare $3.86 million (that was the average cost of a data breach in 2020 according to an IBM Security study).
So, does all of this matter when looking at construction software? You bet it does! While passwords are the first step in protecting your company, security needs to be at the foundation of any software platform you’re considering. For example, Projectmates gives each client the ability to force two-factor authentication for their users. Once this requirement is put in place, it takes less than 30 seconds to set up. Using their cellphone, they will scan a QR code linking to the Google Authenticator app. The app will bring up a code to enter into Projectmates, and the two-factor authentication is complete.
As a business with private data at stake, ensuring your users take the time to add an extra layer of protection is critical. In the end, would you rather take 30 seconds to add security or risk having an expensive mess on your hands? (Like Nike says, just do it!)
