B2B Customer Support | | Published April 29, 2013

From the CEO: Don’t let your collaborative customer service become TOO collaborative

Discover tips for keeping your online passwords safe and secure.

As the creators of collaborative help desk software, you know that we are huge proponents of collaboration.

From the CEO Robert C. Johnson From the CEO
Robert C. Johnson

So you might be surprised to hear me caution against being TOO collaborative.

I say this jokingly. But the recent spate of hackings, including last week’s AP hacking that involved the White House, was NOT a laughing matter.

As an experienced software developer AND tech industry executive, I was recently quoted by e-Commerce Times in an article helping consumers protect against online security breaches. I want to share a few tips with you, too. They are simple but bear repeating.

First and foremost, I assure you that when you use TeamSupport, you can be confident that we follow best practices with the highest security measures and back-up systems in place. We use the most comprehensive security measures available and we monitor the performance of our systems constantly. (Read more here.) But it’s essential that you’re protecting the other e-mail and software tools you use.

  1. Is your password too easy?
    Most passwords people choose are easy to hack. We've seen this over and over again with things like the phone hacking scandal in the UK and many Twitter accounts being compromised. I suspect most of us have also received fake e-mail from a friend's personal account that has been hacked.
  2. If so, choose one that’s impossible to crack.
    From the user's perspective, choose passwords that are impossible to guess and hard to crack. Software providers should also strengthen their password policies and implement easy fixes such as locking out accounts after more than 5 login attempts.
  3. Keep your eyes open.
    Stay vigilant. Watch for activity that looks unusual or suspicious. When it doubt, check it out.

Unfortunately, hacking has become much easier. Just 20 years ago you needed a modem and to know the phone number of the computer you wanted to attack. Today, most people's e-mail accounts are accessible via the Web from anywhere and this allows anyone in the world to be able to attempt to hack them. With the increasing reliance of the world on news from sources such as Twitter and Facebook, the potential impact of a compromised account has gone up exponentially.

A few minutes auditing your passwords now can save you the potential for security breaches in the future.

And if you want to learn more about TeamSupport’s security protocols or need help developing your own, contact us today!

Your partner in service,

Robert C. Johnson
CEO

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