NLB Blog

Several state governments have been targeted by a sophisticated fraud campaign that has likely siphoned millions of dollars in unemployment payments earmarked for the record number of Americans seeking benefits as a result of the pandemic, a new Secret Service memo warns.

It’s World Password Day, and much like every other day of the year, the state of password security is terrible. 

Despite repeated warnings from security experts and IT departments, “123456” is still the most common password for the last seven years, narrowly edging out “password.” The problem isn’t limited to easily guessed passwords: a recent study of remote workers found that 42 percent of employees physically write passwords down, 34 percent digitally capture them on their smartphones, and at least 20 percent admit to using the same password across multiple work accounts. Enter the password manager: an application or service that consolidates the credentials for all a user’s accounts. If you stop reading here: Password managers are not failsafe.

When it comes to protecting yourself online, there’s no silver bullet. Security software may block some incoming threats, VPNs can secure your communications, and sound data hygiene can prevent data leaks and breaches. But there’s one strategy that can both help to prevent and recover from otherwise catastrophic data incidents: Regularly backing up files and data.