A strong and secure password is the first line of defense in protecting yourself from a potential security event. It is often the only thing standing between a hacker and your private information. Here are the biggest password mistakes to avoid. Hackers often use software to crack passwords, so having a password that is long and difficult will often lead them to give up and moving on to an easier target.

Michael Durante spent his teenage years into his early 20s climbing the ladder in a branch of a successful banking firm, starting as a teller and ending as a Sr. Branch Manager within 6 years. In 2003, he left the banking world to join his father and create TIE National, a telecom company 60 years in the making. Together, they grew the company from a two-man operation solely working on telephones to a multi-million dollar international business with employees in over a dozen states, covering everything from phone systems to cloud products and computer systems. You can find Michael on LinkedIn.