Week 1 - Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Author: Joseph Stegall
Date: 10-06-2025
Article Description: Welcome to Week 1 of Cybersecurity Awareness Month! We’re kicking things off with one of the most important basics of cybersecurity: creating and managing strong, unique passwords ...
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Welcome to Week 1 of Cybersecurity Awareness Month! We're kicking things off with one of the most important basics of cybersecurity: creating and managing strong, unique, passwords.
Why Passwords Matter:
Passwords are the first line of defense for your accounts. Unfortunately, weak or reused passwords are also the easiest way for hackers to break in. Attackers use automated tools that can guess billions of passwords per second, and once they crack one, they often try the same password on other accounts.
Best Practices for Strong Passwords:
- Use 12 or more characters with a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols.
- Avoid common words, phrases, or anything tied to personal info (like birthdays, kids/spouses names, or pet names)
- Never reuse passwords across different accounts
- Use a password manager to generate, store, and autofill strong, unique passwords for you
Why a Password Manager Helps:
A password manager not only saves you time but also takes the guesswork out of remembering complex logins. Instead of dozens of weak or reused passwords, you just need to remember one strong master password.
Activities This Week:
- Double Trouble Password Trivia: Test your password security knowledge with this Jeopardy-style trivia game and enter for an opportunity to win a $25 gift card.
To enter the raffle, complete the triva game, perform a screen grab of your game and attach it to an e-mail addressed to moconnor@kcc.edu. Winner will be announced on October 13th.
- Security.org's Password Strength Tool: Test out your password's strength to with this secure tool to see how much time it would take to crack your password.
Together, we can lock down our accounts and keep our information safe. Stay secure!