Having a secure password is like the basic line of defence especially when your employees or contractors have been allowed access to your network remotely through a virtual private network (VPN). In every network, security is always essential to prevent unauthorised access or compromises arising from malicious intrusions into the network. So the security of your network is the number one priority before allowing access to it.

With the modern-day technological revolutionization, securing your network has even turned precarious than it has been before. The sole reason behind this is that every remote connection to the network, whose access is certainly uncontrolled, is a potential path for hackers to gain access to your network. If you wish to rip the benefits of your VPN, this is the reason you should ensure the security of your network. Implementing a secure and robust password policy is one of the essential considerations you need to make as you set up your milestone for a secure client VPN.

If you operate under a weak password policy, you remain unfortunately vulnerable since your password is prone to remembrance or attack for potentially harmful users. Your network, therefore, requires one of the most complex combinations to guard against attempts of hacking and unauthorized access through brute force attacks. Besides having strong encryption and authentication methods for your VPN access, you should ensure the best password policy. If you got no idea of a reliable and secure password, then take a look at the tried and tested tips below to guide you on how to create one.

Before setting up your password for your network, you need to remember some essential tips. Ensure that no client keeps a password permanently. A strong password should; avoid a word from the dictionary, be long enough (at least twelve or more characters), be a mix-up of numbers, punctuation marks, capitalization, spelling, or other variations like dollar signs. It should also neither be related to a phone number nor a name. If you did not employ these tips for your password, then you are by now potentially unsafe. Below are the ultimate tips to use in creating a secure and strong password for your VPN.

Also Read : How End User’s Devices Get Hacked

Creating Mnemonics

If you do not employ password management tools, employing a memorable phrase related to your website or network is the ultimate solution to keep away attackers. However, the mnemonic you create should also be complex and hard to guess. Besides, it should be moderately long, include different characters, and be memorable.

Below are few examples:

You can create a memorable phrase like “I use a secure VPN to ensure the security of my client’s money.” This can be translated to a mnemonic like “iUasV2ETS0mc$$”. The result is a password which is not guessable by any unauthorized person. However, ensure that your password can be remembered by the client using it.

A secure password can also be created by creating a quick, memorable sentence then using special characters to represent the letters. For instance, a sentence like “Sam sells shoes” can be translated into “$@ms3ll55h035”. The password created is secure since it is made from the substitution of some words with characters.

Employing the use of a password manager

Since setting a complex password is vulnerable to forgetfulness and may be difficult to memorise, there is no point in stressing yourself anymore. However simple your passwords may be, the more you create them, piles up after some time making it hard to remember. You can maximise the advantage of a password manager to help you organize your login credentials. Some of the popular password managers include Dashlane4 and LastPass 4.0. You can then save the password in your web browser to ensure your login credentials are automatically keyed in every time you access your network. However, this should be used as the last resort since storing your password there is deemed insecure.

Use the Passphrase password technique

The passphrase technique is among the friendliest and easiest to use in creating a secure and strong password for your network. You can protect your network via a combination of several random dictionary words. You can either create the random words yourself or use some popular websites to create them for you.

Alternatively, you can employ the Person-Action-Action (PAA) method for creating your passphrase. This method may, for instance, use a randomized image or person, like say, “Andrew James,” after which you pick a random place like “Miami Beach.” The passphrase can include a sentence involving the person and the place. This may be “Andrew James paid a visit to the Miami Beach”. The resulting password can be “AJpavttMB”- using every first letter of the words in the sentence.

Avoid using some common passwords

While setting up a password for your network, be sure not to use any of the commonly used passwords like “admin”, “1234”, “123456789”, and “password”. Use of such words exposes your network to the vulnerability of brute force attack where the attacker continually guesses popularly known passwords in an attempt to gain unauthorized access to your network.The phrase you create as your password should, therefore, not contain any of these passwords.Such passwords are guessed almost instantly and should, therefore, be avoided.

Use a combination of passwords

With the contemporary, sophisticated hacking techniques, the security of your network should be a priority. If the password system you use allows it, try using a combination of two passwords separated by space. This makes it almost impossible for an attacker to gain access to your network. The passwords used should, however, also be a combination of letters, numbers, and characters to avoid the ease of guessing. For instance, you can use a password like “th3 b35t p@55w0rd”. This is a phrase signifying “the best password”, with words separates by white space. Above all, ensure that you limit the VPN access to only those with a valid reason to use it. This should also be done only when necessary.

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