If you were caught off guard by the Coronavirus and your company disaster plan didn't include how to deal with a health pandemic, you were not alone.  Even emergency preparedness agencies worldwide were not prepared for a disaster of the magnitude of the Coronavirus.

However it's never too late to revisit and revise your disaster plan or, if you don't have one, develop a plan.
  
In 2017 "Be Red Cross Ready with Disaster Planning" was written to remind rep firms to develop a disaster plan if they didn't already have one.  Although the business disasters discussed did not include a health pandemic, the basic steps for planning are still valid.

​When starting your plan, identify each type of disaster you could face.  One plan does not fit all disasters.  Make sure your written plan is clear and concise so everyone knows what is expected of them before, during, and after disaster strikes.
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In light of the 6.5 million passwords recently breached at LinkedIn, it's probably a good time to revisit how to set up secure passwords.

I recently attended the PTRA (Power-Motion Technology Representatives Association annual conference where John Weeks, CEO of Intelliquest Consulting, Inc discussed how to set up secure passwords.

Most of us already know the basics of setting up passwords - use a different password for every site; use letters, numbers, and symbols; the longer the better.  The real problem with passwords, isn't coming up with a tough password, it's remembering the password after you set it up!

So John suggested using a mnemonic.  A mnemonic is a memory aid, a "short rhyme, phrase or other mental technique for making information easier to memorize" (Encarta Dictionary).  John, like other security experts, suggests creating a phrase that means something to you or picking a phrase from a book, song or movie that you find easy to remember and use the 1st or 2nd letter of each word to set up your password.  And then just to make it harder to crack add a number or symbol somewhere in the password.

Here are some examples:

From "A Tale of Two Cities" - "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"  becomes iwtbotIwtwot59.  The 59 signifies the year of publication (1859).
From "Over the Rainbow" - "Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high" becomes sotrWUH39.  Again the 39 signifies the year of publication (1939).
From "Gone with the Wind" (movie) - "After all, tomorrow is another day" becomes a@Tiad39.  And again the 39 signifies the year the movie was released (1939).

Choose several phrases that you'll easily remember and then build on them for different sites by using Capital letters, numbers or symbols.  Here's what I mean:

bea@Tiad39an - I added "be" and "an" to the "Gone with the Wind" phrase to point to a password for LL Bean.

In MRSWARE we use several passwords - one to login to MRSWARE, one for e-mail, one for MRSWARE Sync, one for MRSWARE Mobile.  We strongly suggest our Users have different passwords for each area as well as logging out when not using the application.

Remember to keep it simple and have fun.  After all, keeping your information secure is something worth remembering!

Are you taking the necessary precautions to keep your data and identity safe?  You may think so, but at a recent conference I listened to a security consultant, John Sileo, talk about his personal experiences – yes, there is an “s” at the end of experience – with identity theft and found out how easy it is to have your identity and data stolen. 
 
John began by telling us about his experiences.  The first time his identity was stolen, his credit card number was stolen.  He went on to tell us how he found out about it and how long it took to re-establish his good credit.  The second time his identity was stolen, he found out about it when two FBI agents came to his door to question him regarding the embezzlement of his clients’ funds (his business partner and best friend - so he thought - was the culprit).  Two years and thousands of dollars later, he successfully cleared himself of felony charges.  Because of these incidents, John became an expert and shares his knowledge with others on how to prevent identity and data theft.
 
John discussed 5 approaches you may encounter when asked for personal information:
1.      Trust me (a good nature bias)
2.      It’s for your safety (security bias)
3.      We need to hurry (rush bias)
4.      If you do this (bribe bias) or if you don’t, then (fear bias)
5.      I just need a little more of your information (sharing bias)
 

Years ago I read an article by Gina Trapani, of Lifehacker.com, where she discussed a better way to set up high-security passwords and how to remember them.  The idea is to create a password that is nearly impossible to crack, but relatively easy to remember and re-create if forgotten. 


First, the Big Do:

Do write down your passwords and put them in a secure place such as a safe deposit box. If you are injured or die, your family will be able to access your web site accounts. 

Here are 3 steps to creating stronger passwords:

1. Set up a "core" password that is memorable to you. Use a nondictionary word with at least eight characters, combining letters and numbers, such as your uncle's initials and your wedding anniversary date. For example: your favorite uncle's initials are AS and your anniversary is June 20 - your "core" password would be AS0620.