Is Your Small Law Firm Keeping Your Passwords Safe?

Your firm’s lawyers have an obligation to your clients and your firm to keep sensitive information safe. Lawyers have access to a lot of confidential client information on their tech devices, so it’s critical they keep computers, phones and tablets safe from hackers.

Data breaches can happen when you use passwords that are incredibly simple or similar on all of your accounts. You’re also at risk if your passwords are infrequently changed. Hackers and computer bugs can easily find ways into your accounts when you don’t take extra measures to keep your passwords safe. Have your attorneys use these password tips to keep all their tech tools safe from prying eyes:

Use Different Passwords

Don’t reuse the same password across programs, devices or accounts. When one account is compromised, a hacker may try accessing other accounts using the same credentials. Choosing a variety of passwords is a defense system. It will slow down hackers and help your firm to contain security breaches.

Change Passwords Regularly

As a rule of thumb, all passwords should be changed every three months. This way, if an old password has been compromised without your firm’s knowledge, the new password restores a measure of security to the affected account.

Create Strong Passwords

Your attorneys should create passwords with a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and punctuation. When allowed, passphrases are also a good option. A passphrase can be a line from a song, for example, with numbers or punctuation marks used in place of some of the letters. Such phrases may be easier for your attorneys to remember than a string of random numbers, but, because of their length, harder for hacking software to guess.

Use a Password Manager

If your attorneys follow smart password guidelines, they will have many different passwords to remember. Save the confusion of forgotten passwords by using a secure password manager to keep track of all your firm’s login credentials. Password managers securely store all your login information, and many even generate strong passwords for you. Do some research to find the program that’s right for your firm.

While it may seem inconvenient to change passwords often and to use complicated strings of numbers, letters and symbols, it’s far worth the return if taking these measures protects the integrity of your online accounts.