Five Questions With: Eric M. Shorr

Perhaps the most basic cybersecurity barrier is the password. We all have so many that it’s tempting to use the same one across devices or accounts, or to use passwords that may be easy to figure out.

Eric M. Shorr, president of Secure Future Tech Solutions in Warwick, spoke to PBN about the importance of using effective passwords and multifactor authentication to protect accounts and valuable information and data against hackers and cybercriminals. 

PBN: What are the most common password patterns guessed by hackers?

SHORR: Passwords that include patterns such as 123456 or ABC123 are easily guessed by hackers. Other commonly used passwords include “password” – I’m not joking, I see this all the time, your pet’s name, mother’s maiden name, kids’ names, and your high school mascot. Hackers will stalk you on social media and the web to gather information to help them guess your passwords.

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PBN: What are great password examples?

SHORR: The best passwords are completely random with at least eight characters that include a combination of letters, numbers and symbols such as @, #, $, %, etc. The reality is that even with a strong password, you are still at risk due to password breaches and your data ending up on the dark web. Your best defense is to use unique passwords for every web site and to set up multifactor authentication.

MFA protects you because a username and password is not enough to successfully log on. You’ll need a code texted to your phone or use an authenticator app to give you a unique code as an additional log-in step. Do not use the same password across accounts.

PBN: It seems every business and organization wants us to set up an account with a username and password these days. Any advice on how to keep it all secure and organized without using the same password for everything?

SHORR: It’s a tall order keeping track of your passwords. The average person has well over 100 passwords to remember. A password manager program will help you keep track of your passwords and will also generate random passwords for you. My favorite password manager programs are Dashlane and LastPass.

PBN: For those folks out there still using “1234” or “password” as their passwords, what could this mean in terms of consequences?

SHORR: When you don’t have a secure password, you are leaving your door wide open to hackers. It is like giving the hacker your key ring. Once they gain access to one account, they have the potential to gain access to other accounts. Hackers are stealing billions of dollars from us every year. The losses in Rhode Island due to cybercrime added up to over $7 million in 2020. Don’t be a victim. Use strong passwords and MFA.  

PBN: Does it matter how many characters are in my password?

SHORR: Yes, longer passwords are harder to guess. You want to have a password that has at least eight characters that includes upper/lower case letters, numbers and symbols.  Even with a complex password, you are still at risk because hackers purchase your passwords on the dark web. Many users give up their passwords due to phishing emails. When in doubt, delete that very realistic-looking email and go directly to the website to login.

BONUS QUESTION: What are your passwords?

SHORR: I’ll never tell! However, even if you had my passwords, you would still need my phone for that additional MFA code to successfully log in to my sites. Nice try!

Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributing writer.