In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re diving into the importance of selecting a password that protects your privacy—and your heart.
Here are our tips for creating a strong password:
Rule #1: Make an effort to keep things exciting
A common mistake people make when it comes to password security is failing to change the default hard-coded password. Particularly when it comes to industrial control systems, this can prove detrimental.
Most routers and devices are deployed with hard-coded passwords, especially in the realm of ICS security. These default passwords are widely available online in manuals, or are frankly guessable. It doesn’t take much effort for a hacker to compromise your ICS systems if you don’t bother to change it.
![](https://framerusercontent.com/images/d4wqSqV20hvyKBFj40kSuymlAC4.png)
Ideally, when changing your password, avoid using something personal or overtly easy to guess. That means you want something more complicated than “iloveyou.”
Rule #2: Profess your love loud and proud
As mentioned, “iloveyou” is a weak password, and that's because it is a weak profession of love. No upper case? No emphasis? No wonder it’s been leaked 1,608,627 times.
But let’s see what adding a capital letter can do: “Iloveyou” has only been leaked 11,755 times. Proper capitalization can make you over ten times safer!
To up your game even more, add spaces for proper word-separation: “I love you” has been leaked only 671 times.
And what if you’re really passionate about the message? “I love you!” has been leaked only 8 times, and the very emphatic “I love you!!” only 2 times.
If you really up your game, “I love you!!!” has NEVER been leaked, and neither has “I really love you” or a simple “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Now that’s secure.
Moral of the story: stronger professions of love provide significantly greater security. Or as our wonderful engineering team says:
![](https://framerusercontent.com/images/85y5HDDsn00AcUX3js1Y1o4.png)
References: