NCFCU protects our members using a variety of equipment, tools and techniques to prevent malicious actors from causing harm. One such approach to help educate you our members on some best practices to combat these villainous perpetrators. This month we will focus on a simple topic, Passwords.
How are passwords compromised?
Be on the lookout for these methods criminals can employ to compromise a password, including:
What can we do to prevent password theft?
A key recommendation is to use multi-factor authentication and a strong, non-predictable password. A strong
password is a unique password that, as the name suggests, is a password that is totally unique to you as a user
and your account. Your password should never be used anywhere else, or be associated with any other
account or username. A truly strong and unique password will consist of the following:
Use a phrase and incorporate shortcut codes or acronyms
Use a phrase and incorporate shortcut codes or acronyms, Let’s use the phrase “to be, or not to be, that is the
question” (2BorNot2B_ThatIsThe?) By replacing the word “to” with the numerical 2 we’ve made the
password more complex but still easily remembered. The word “Question” has also been replaced by adding a
special the character ? Some additional examples are:
Multi-Factor Authentication
When you sign into your online accounts - a process we call "authentication" - you're proving to the service
that you are who you say you are. Traditionally that's been done with a username and a password. Almost all
online services - banks, social media, shopping have added a way for your accounts to be more secure. You
may hear it called "Two-Step Verification" or "Multifactor Authentication" but they all operate off the same
principle. When you sign into the account (like a web browser) you need more than just the username and
password. You’ll need a second thing - what we call a second "factor" to prove who you are.
To enable Multi-Factor Authentication here at NCFCU use these quick instructions. First log into the account. Navigate to the settings small gear icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Scroll down to Alerts and Security. Scroll down again until you reach the Two Factor Authentication portion. Here you can enable multifactor authentication and choose the authentication method. Members can have a text sent to their phones or an email sent. We also support Authenticator apps such as Google’s authenticator app.
Some additional ways to keep your passwords secure: