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Protecting Your Passwords

What is the point in having a Security System if the password or code is written down and sitting within 20 feet of an entry keypad. Some experts believe that as many as 30 % of small businesses have this problem. “If I don’t write it down I’ll forget it,” is the common complaint.

To make things more complicated, there are two (often different) passwords relating to your Security System; Your Arm/Disarm Code and your Password Phrase to make changes to your account or stop a Police dispatch in the case of a False Alarm.

Changing your password in regular intervals will offer enough protection. But, then writing the password down is almost unavoidable. How do you protect your passwords when they are written down?

One trick to keeping yourself secure, is making your passwords complicated. A combination of words and numbers will make a password difficult to guess. And avoid using an obvious passwords relating to your address, birthday, etc.

Another method is to write a password down in Code. For example if your Account Password is “Fat Burger 1776,” you may use 1776 in several passwords, and if you write down the password write “Alarm Account Password: Favorite Burger Joint + Regular Password.” By writing in a code that only you know the answer to, an intruding Burglar will not have the ability to thwart your Security System.

Also, it is important to keep any password written down in a safe place. You don’t even want a Thief to come across a paper that says “Favorite Burger Joint + Regular Password.” Make a safe available to your employees, or hide the password in a place that would take a long time to find.

In short, Security can be compromised by careless password handling. Writing down a password is bad practice when the proper safeguards are not met. Always make your Security decisions by running them through this question: “What would I do if I were to burglarize this building?"