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Srivatsan Srinivasan, product manager at Nexmo, offers up some key tips for combatting fraudsters on World Password Day.
World Password Day is the perfect time to provide suggestions for how to make online account information more secure. Hackers are experts at accessing confidential profile and account information.
Here are four ways you can combat fraudsters:
1. Implement two-factor authentication (2FA)
What is something President Obama, Sony Playstation and European Banks have in common? They all agree that 2FA is essential to helping protect your information. The second factor in the 2FA authentication process prevents hackers who have managed to get someone’s account password from accessing a user’s full account information. Overall, 2FA increases overall user security and prevents future account takeovers.
2. Mandate complex passwords
The world’s 2nd most popular password is “password,” losing to the arguably less cryptic “123456”. Kaspersky’s online tool shows how quickly passwords can be brute forced. Require your users to select an intricate password – almost anything besides “password” would be an improvement – will help keep your user’s’ account information safe.
3. Use VPNs
Many consumers use public or untrusted Wi-Fi networks, which opens them up to a lot of potential security risks. Encourage your users to download and work through a trusted VPN – which costs as little as $4 per month – can help significantly decrease the risk of a hacker stealing user credentials while on a hotspot.
4. Require users to update your software
Many software manufacturers are diligent about providing fixes and patches to significant security threats, but the onus is on the user to download those updates. When needed, remind users to download the latest updates for both your software and firmware.
Over the years Nexmo has worked with companies who take customer security very seriously, and with its Verify API and SDK, it has authenticated millions of users securely. To learn more, check out the Verify here.
Srivatsan Srinivasan is a product manager at Nexmo
