On July 3, 2014, Joe Maddon as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays set his team’s batting lineup against the Detroit Tigers using position numbers 8-6-7-5-3-0-9 (with zero standing for the unnumbered designated hitter). Does this number sound familiar? It may remind you of an early 1980s hit song “867-5309/Jenny” by the 1‑Hit Wonder, Tommy Tutone. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1982. Alex Call was trying to write a rock song in the style of the Kinks and came up with a cool sounding four chord progression. His friend Jim Keller, who was a member of the Tommy Tutone band, came along and together they created the tune. Truth be told, there was no Jenny, the entire premise of the song about finding a number on a bathroom wall was a lie but did enhance the song’s lore! The hook was so memorable that any poor soul who happened to have that 7-digit phone number did all they could to change their number. How could you not with the lyrics crying, “I got it, (I got it), I got it, For a good time, for a good time call.” (You know you’re singing in your head.)
“I got it, I got it!” is something you don’t want a cyber thief to say about your passwords to your key business data. While everyone knows Jenny’s number, no one besides you should know your key passwords. With password usage being so necessary and so prevalent, many managers today have embraced using Password Management Software. A password manager is a program or application that allows you to store passwords and other login information in a safe location.
Leverage the Benefits of Password Management Software
There are a number of reasons to seriously consider leveraging the benefits of Password Management Software in your organization and not the one built into your browser. Security experts recommend using a dedicated password manager because that is their core business, not web browsing software.
Dedicated password management software can make creating, remembering, and using long random and complex passwords very easy. While you may say you have a memory like an elephant, you do not. The reliance on memory for your passwords is thankfully no longer necessary! A simple authentication to the software and boom, you are in business. Most of these applications also easily and securely store password recovery questions and answers, in fact, most of them can store almost anything like bank routing
numbers, credit card, and social security numbers as needed. The best of them work across multiple devices since we all use passwords on PCs, tablets, phones, etc. And since passwords are associated specifically with safe URLs designated by you, the risk of phishing and spear phishing attacks is reduced. And while they are very secure, they also save you a lot of time!
You would think that with all the prank calls that went to 867-5309 in every area code across the country, that the number would not be available anywhere. Not true, it is used by some businesses specifically due to the song (a music DJ for example) and is still available in about 20 area codes across the country. This makes us recommend not only Password Manager software but also Dark Web Scanning to find out what credentials from your organization may be available out there.
If you would like to discuss this further, contact IT Radix anytime. We are here at… 973-989-2633!
First published in our May 2024 IT Radix Resource newsletter