Basics

Encryption and strong passwords

The two building blocks digital privacy rests on – explained compactly, with the most common mistakes and practical countermeasures.

Encryption and strong passwords are important for protecting your privacy

The most common mistakes when using passwords and how you can avoid them.

Using passwords with a personal reference, e.g. birth dates, family names, hobbies - attackers can find out these personal details, e.g. with research in social media, and thus attack your accounts.
Too simple passwords, e.g. simple words - with so-called dictionary attacks, which can try through a lot of known words very quickly, your password is guessed in no time.
Even inserting special characters or numbers into known words does not protect - attackers know these tricks too, of course, and try typical combinations quickly.
Changing passwords too often - many people tend to use simple passwords in these cases and vary them slightly each time they change.
Storing passwords in the browser or simply always staying logged in - if you ever leave your computer unattended in cafes, for example, or if it is even stolen from you, attackers who get to your computer may quickly be in your important accounts.
Using the same password for several or even all accounts - if one of your accounts is compromised, in this case all other accounts are quickly at risk as well.

A great help to avoid these problems are so-called password managers, such as in Steganos Privacy Suite. With these, you can create a secure database of your passwords, secured by a single, strong password that you remember.

Passwords are only requested when needed and cannot be easily used without active action on your part on your PC. Since you only need to remember one password and the password manager creates strong, complex passwords for each account at the touch of a button, you avoid the typical mistakes and can also quickly replace compromised passwords with a new, strong password if needed.

Your passwords will also be safe in case your PC is lost, because without the secure master password that only you know, no one can access your password database.

In addition to using a password manager, it is recommended to enable and use secure two-factor authentication where possible, as this is yet another security factor that attackers will have to overcome even if your password is guessed or hacked in some way.

It is also a good idea to regularly check your PC for malware, because if your PC is compromised by Trojans or something similar, unfortunately even the best password won't help.

Encryption is a hot topic due to remote work, but just as important to protect your private and family data

At the latest since the introduction of privacy laws and regulations, data protection has become an important topic and since the significant increase of working remotely, the topic of data encryption has become an international trend, especially in companies. In this context, the importance of encryption in cloud storage is also increasing and, according to current studies, this will continue to grow in the future.

So far, the following data has been encrypted the most:

personal customer data
employee and personnel data
corporate and financial data
healthcare data
billing and payment data
intellectual property, such as patent, source code, and product data
Family photos and documents

Encryption of company data

Data is playing an increasingly important role in everyday business and work. Especially sensitive personal data, but also data of business partners, customers or patients. All of these have a right to have their data treated with absolute confidentiality and stored securely in encrypted form. Internal and external documents must remain confidential, especially when they are stored and stocked.

This applies to data on the local computer, but also to data on servers and in the cloud.

Encryption of external data carriers

Data protection in the private environment has become increasingly important. At the latest since the increase in home office work due to the Corona crisis, attacks by hackers and data spies on private computers have increased dramatically. The number of cases of cybercrime registered by the police, especially in the private sphere, has risen continuously and has increased drastically, especially in the years of the Corona crisis.

That's why you should secure your personal data on USB sticks and external hard drives not only professionally but also privately.

Fit for the future with encryption

The digitalization of our society, private life and in the public authorities as well as corporate environment is constantly increasing, especially due to the clearly visible deficits in the Corona crisis. In addition to the technical development of the systems with which we work in everyday life, topics such as artificial intelligence or virtual realities are being added. As a result, the amount of digital data is increasing permanently.

For these reasons, the providers of encryption solutions are not standing still, but are constantly working on updates to ensure the highest standards of encryption and data protection in conjunction with a good user experience and easy-to-use technology. The Data Safe, which is part of the Steganos Privacy Suite, offers just such an easy-to-use technology, for encrypting and securing your professional and private data.

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