October is national Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Cybercrimes are a constant threat, and health systems are among the most frequently targeted entities. To keep our health system and our patients safe, we’ll be sharing information on some of the most relevant cybersecurity topics every week in October. Check back here soon for more great information.
Passphrases
One of the easiest ways to make your accounts more secure is to use a “passphrase” instead of a password. A passphrase is a series of words with spaces between, like “Tuesdays are usually rainy” or “pleasant autumn arbor walk.” Passphrases are much harder to guess and hack than passwords, and they have the added bonus of being much easier to remember.
Creating a great passphrase
Here are some tips for creating a top passphrase:
- Longer = more secure. Your Ballad Health passphrase must be at least 8 characters, but 10-16 is better, and you can go even longer than that.
- Mix it up. Using capital and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters (!, #, $, & and @) will make your passphrase even more secure.
Keeping your passphrase secure
- Don’t use the same passphrase for your Ballad Health account that you use for your personal accounts. Using your passphrase on multiple sites means giving hackers that many more opportunities to access it – especially if some of those sites lack proper security measures for protecting passphrases. And once a hacker has your passphrase, they can use it wherever you have used it. That’s why it is against Ballad Health policy to use the same password/passphrase between your Ballad Health and personal accounts.
- Don’t share your passphrase. No one associated with Ballad Health will ever ask you for your passphrase. Don’t share it with IT team members, your coworkers or your boss.
- Change your passphrase when prompted. Despite your best efforts, it’s still possible that someone might get a hold of your passphrase. This is why Ballad Health requires all user passphrases to be changed regularly.
- Use a password manager to securely store all your passwords and passphrases instead of writing them down or saving them on your devices. A password manager is a secure, easy way to keep track of all your passwords, using encryption to keep them safe from hackers.
Your efforts make a real difference in the safety of our health system and our patients. Thank you for continuing to use good cybersecurity habits. Find new cybersecurity tips and information here every week throughout the month of October.
