The year 2020 has marked a rapid wave of global digitalisation, which we are experiencing both personally and in our workplaces. This calls for a more serious look at various aspects of cybersecurity, as crimes committed in the digital environment are also on the rise and becoming more serious.
At the same time, assessing the individual digital security skills of the local population, a survey conducted by the technology company Huawei shows that almost 25% of the Latvian population do not use any smartphone security tools.
Today, much of the sensitive data, such as financial information, work and personal email, business contacts, and other information that needs to be secured, is stored on your smartphone. Therefore, caution is an important factor in data security hygiene to protect yourself from cyber attacks, “says Gunta Kursiša, Business Development Manager of Huawei Mobile Services in Latvia.
The first step to keeping your smartphone secure is to set a strong password. Most smartphones offer a password-setting feature at the beginning of setting up your smartphone, and anyone can do it. Although technology is evolving, manufacturers are now introducing various biometric recognition tools, such as fingerprint and facial recognition technologies, along with passwords and PIN codes, and the survey reveals that most or 62% of the domestic population uses passwords most often.
The survey reveals that the level of digital security skills of the Latvian population differs in different age groups – the greatest diversity of passwords has been found among young people. 75% of the surveyed young people aged 18-24 create unique passwords for both smartphones and various other accounts and try to remember them all, but 42% of seniors do not use any smartphone security tools.
How to choose a secure password?
To limit potential threats in the digital environment, there is a strong and unique password. The main measure of password security is its unpredictability – the longer the password, the more secure it is. Secure passwords are long, unique, contain combinations of different characters, and have no reference to the personal lives of their creators.
“A unique password means a different password for each device and online account. It provides security in the event that one device is lost, hacked, or otherwise compromised – other devices and accounts are still secure,” comments Gunta Kursiša, Huawei Mobile Services Business. development manager in Latvia.
“Although there is a belief that passwords need to be changed frequently to avoid cyber-attacks, it is recommended to rely on the increasingly popular two-factor authentication approach. It is recommended not to change secure passwords unless there is an indication or suspicion of third-party misuse. it is often difficult to remember and more often overlooked as a mechanism for creating a secure password. As a result, passwords can become insecure. “
Unfortunately, due to people’s habits, not all of these criteria are always met, and users often choose passwords that contain personal information or, quite simply, use the same password for years on multiple devices at the same time.
Although the use of password generators or smart helpers is not popular among the local population and is chosen by only 7% of respondents to help create unique and secure passwords, every smart device user has access to a variety of password generation and management tools that reduce password recovery and prevent reuse. the same password.
“The tools help create secure passwords by generating random character combinations while using an algorithm that makes sure that the password meets various security standards and is unique. Of course, Smart Helpers also offer to save the password for future use, so no matter how complicated it may be. , the user does not have to remember it, because a password management smart assistant comes to the rescue, “informs Gunta Kursiša, Business Development Manager of Huawei Mobile Services in Latvia.
“However, if there is a suspicion that your data has been misused or an account has been hacked, in any case, the password must be changed immediately,” adds G. Kursiša.
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