Is my connection secure?

Is my Internet connection from Execulink Telecom secure?

Yes. Execulink Telecom’s network is designed to prevent unauthorized access.  In addition Execulink’s email service also comes with free SpamGuard and VirusGuard protection to scan all inbound emails sent to an Execulink email account. Despite all of the measures taken to secure our network and protect your connection, your computer still needs anti-virus protection, a basic firewall or router, and protection against malware.

Firewalls

What is a Firewall?

Firewalls are security programs that block unauthorized access and allow authorized access to your computer or computer network. Firewall software can be a program on your computer or be functionality built into a device such as a router. Firewalls use ‘rules’ to decide what kind of network activity is allowed, if a type of connection comes in which doesn’t match the established rules the connection is blocked. Since Windows XP all versions of Windows have come with limited firewall programs, in addition there are firewall programs that can be purchased (for example Zone Alarm, McAfee Internet Security and others).

Do I need a firewall?

Although the Execulink network is secure from outside intrusion the computer systems on your network may not be. Operating system exploits or misconfigured/out of date applications may leave you exposed to 3rd party access over the internet.  If your operating system does not include firewall functionality you may wish to purchase firewall software for added security.

Password Policy

Why use a strong Password?

Given enough encrypted data, time, and computing power, attackers can compromise almost any cryptographic system. You can prevent such attackers from succeeding by making the task of cracking the password as difficult as possible. Two key strategies to accomplish this are to require customers to set strong passwords and to change your passwords periodically.

What Are Passwords Checked For?

Our MyExeculink is configured to verify passwords are secure against dictionary and brute force attacks when being added or changed. When creating or changing a password, the system will check for the following:

• Has at least 2 character groups (eg. number, letter, symbols, etc.)
• Does not contain the same characters repeatedly (eg. aaaa)
• Does not contain characters that ascend or descend (eg. 1234)
• Does not contain characters that are close to each other in the keyboard (eg. qwerty)
• Is not a whole word contained in the dictionary (eg. house)

Creating Secure Passwords

One can easily create a secure password by substituting common letters for numbers to comply with these guidelines. For example:

• replace the letter ‘ A/a ‘ with the ‘ @ ‘ symbol
• replace the letter ‘ E/e ‘ with number 3
• replace the letter ‘ I/i ‘ with the number 1
• replace the letter ‘ O/o ‘ with the number 0

Examples of simple secure passwords

• C4tf1sh instead of Catfish
• Fl0w3r instead of Flower
• Mu5hR00m instead of Mushroom
• G0ld3n vs Golden

All these examples meet length requirement (6-8 characters) and they have multiple characters as well as letters and numbers. Due to letters being replaced by numbers these passwords no longer contain whole words found in the dictionary (dictionary attacks are typically how passwords are broken).