Let’s Talk Tech! Passwords!

As the number of passwords, accounts and systems we use have increased, so have the bad actors trying to take things that don’t belong to them.  Board members Antoinette Stevens and Lynn Woody talk about passwords with the hope that non-profits can keep themselves just a little bit safer in this digital world!

Passwords and security are tough! So let’s get tougher!

I felt somehow like I drew the short stick. Don’t get me wrong, I know that passwords and security are a very important topic. I fully respect security engineers that look to keep us safe (like Antoinette Stevens). I just feel like I’m not good at the whole security business. To which Antoinette stated I’ll be perfect to help in this conversation, adding that I’ll be able ask great questions about this critical subject. So here goes! 

Let me backup and introduce myself. My name is Lynn Woody and I’m the current president of the nonprofit, dsmHack. I have worked in the technology sector for over 25 years as a developer and then as an Agile coach, helping IT teams become awesome. I’ve worked around security engineers since they are also in IT departments and we are taught to be alert to certain things. I’ve taken all the required classes my company assigns, but my knowledge of the subject is pretty limited.  Here was my opportunity to learn more, and Antoinette brought it! Let me introduce her. Antoinette Stevens is a board member of dsmHack and a Security Detection and Response Engineer. She taught me a bit about how to lean towards the safer side of this complex topic.

Here are things we chat about in the video:

• Password managers, are they safe? I know that google has one on my browser and there is one built into my phone. I also have the one that I have to pay a monthly fee for. 
• Sometimes my password manager doesn’t have the password I know I set up, so I’m stuck trying to remember a password and often have to reset a password. Is there inherent risk with that or, nah it’s just fine? 
• As a nonprofit board member I have lots of questions too – 
  • We are responsible for keeping the data we have of others (volunteers, sponsors, etc). Are there data platforms that we should be using? 
  • What about shared passwords? We have shared things as a nonprofit to help with management of them. Examples: social media accounts, shared email accounts, shared file locations, the list goes on. 

Check out the video and let us know what other questions about passwords you might have!