Creating Complicated Passwords

Creating a strong, complicated password is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to protect your online security.

In an era of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, the significance of a robust password cannot be overemphasized. Recent statistics reveal a startling fact: weak passwords are responsible for 81% of hacking-related breaches, underscoring the critical need for more complex passwords.

So, how can you create one?

A complicated password is a blend of letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and symbols, extending to at least 12 characters. The more random and longer the password, the harder for hackers to crack.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a complicated password:

1. Start with Length: Aim for at least 12 characters. Longer passwords exponentially increase the time required to crack them.
   

2. Mix It Up: Use a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. This randomness adds an extra layer of security.
   

3. Avoid Predictability: Avoid obvious substitutions, like “pa$$word” or “1234abcd.” Hackers are well-versed in these common patterns.
   

4. Use Phrases: Consider stringing together random words or a phrase only you would know. This method, known as a passphrase, is easier to remember and harder to hack.
   

5. Employ a Password Manager: These tools generate and store complex passwords for you, ensuring each password is unique and robust.
   

6. Regular Updates: To fend off ongoing threats, change your passwords periodically, especially for sensitive accounts.

Remember, your password is the first defense against unauthorized access to your personal and financial information. Investing time in creating a strong password can save you from the potential havoc hackers can wreak on your digital life.

Embrace complexity and be proactive about your cybersecurity—if your password is convenient and easy to remember, it is not secure. The more inconvenient the password, the greater its value to your online security.

R

Enhancing Online Security and Privacy with Personal VPN’s

In today's digital age, where our lives are woven into the fabric of the internet, ensuring online security and privacy has become paramount. From banking transactions to social media interactions, much of our personal and sensitive information is transmitted over networks, making it susceptible to prying eyes and potential cyber threats. Amidst these concerns, the adoption of personal Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) has emerged as a potent solution.

How Does a VPN Help You?

A personal VPN serves as a secure tunnel for your internet connection, encrypting the data you send and receive, thus shielding it from eavesdroppers and hackers. Whether you're browsing from a coffee shop's Wi-Fi or accessing your bank account on public transport, a VPN adds an extra layer of protection, making it significantly harder for cybercriminals to intercept your sensitive information.

VPNs also safeguard your privacy by masking your IP address and anonymizing your online activities. This means that your browsing history and online behavior remain confidential, shielded from the prying eyes of internet service providers, advertisers, and other third parties seeking to track your digital footprint for targeted marketing or surveillance purposes.

Moreover, personal VPNs enable users to bypass geographic restrictions and censorship, granting access to region-locked content. Whether you're traveling abroad or wish to access streaming services unavailable in your region, a VPN allows you to circumvent these barriers, providing a seamless online experience without compromising your privacy or security.

Choose a VPN Provider Wisely

However, while personal VPNs offer numerous benefits, it's essential to choose a reputable provider that prioritizes user privacy. Don’t fall for gimmicks. We recommend Express VPN.

But Do You Really Need One?

VPN’s add another layer of complexity and network overhead, eating your bandwidth. There was a time when nearly everything on the Internet wasn’t encrypted, and VPNs were necessary, but this isn’t the case today. In modern computing, nearly everything you do online is encrypted. There’s an argument to be made: if you don’t have a need to access region-blocked content, and if your use case doesn’t involve a lot of risk (you’re not browsing questionable sites or downloading files), why spend the money?

Like everything in IT security, VPNs offer another layer of safeguards but aren’t a magic pill. They don’t solve all problems and aren't necessary in most cases—just another expense that adds a diminishing return on value.

What’s my Advice?

Just reach out. I can help answer this kind of question for you. Thanks for reading.

R

Google Data Migration Service START Button Grayed Out

So, maybe you’re like me.

You’ve got a 100 or so user’s mailboxes you need to migrate from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace.

You’ve completed your setups; the impersonation rights are set on your global admin in M365, and, you’ve assigned full control rights over all target mailboxes.

You strike up Workspace and start the Data Migration Service, successfully authenticate, and start adding users, but it won’t let you. You’ve got a GRAY START BUTTON like this.

And it’s frustrating the hell out of you because, hey, you’re a good tech, you did your planning, etc.

Well, I found a solution.

What’s happening here is that you’ve authenticated this process under another domain and not the domain you think you’re targetting. The oAuth token isn’t being saved under the right account or domain.

For me, I was in my Google Reseller console trying to kick this off, and the damn thing was trying to target my own domain rather than the tenant’s domain.

So, kill the data migration.

Login to the admin console under a Super Admin for your domain under an incognito window and set up the Data Migration Service parameters again.

You should now be able to target a user by typing … it matches, you can press start.

There’s nothing like this in the docs, of course, but hey, I just pulled my hair out for an hour … maybe I can help save yours :)

R