Cybersecurity training company KnowBe4 on May 7 – World Password Day – launched a kit, tips, videos and tools to help strengthen passwords and improve password management.
Cyberattackers do not need to crack weak passwords; they reuse the billions of passwords already available for sale on the dark Web. Using a technique called “credential stuffing”; hackers use account details obtained from older data breaches, KnowBe4 Africa MD Anna Collard pointed out.
"Recent headlines about 500 000 [video communications service] Zoom passwords being up for sale confirm how important it is that people change their password habits. Using the same password over and over again puts a user at risk.
"My advice is using a password manager, which means you only have to remember one very strong password. Also, wherever possible, apply multifactor authentication, which is combining your password with something that you own, like a one-time password application on your phone," she advised.
The KnowBe4 World Password Day Kit provides information about password best practices and includes a complex password guide and a free password exposure test.
The company also provides a video by cybersecurity specialist, convicted hacker and KnowBe4 chief hacking officer Kevin Mitnick on how easy it is to crack a password. Mitnick helped design the KnowBe4 training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics.