Password Incorrect: Wait…What Just Happened Here?

I received that message again just the other day: Password Incorrect. 

I don’t know about you, but for a moment that message kind of locks me up.  Some passwords are easy to remember as I use them frequently.  Others, not so much.  Sometimes my mind is on auto-pilot and I mistakenly enter another password I frequently use and it does not work.  When that happens, and I cannot recall the right one (brain lock?), I usually fumble around a bit before I find the right one.

Remembering passwords has become even harder in the past few years as companies have implemented even more complex strategies to create ‘hack-proof’ security for customer accounts.  The use of special characters, numbers, upper case, lower case, no use of any prime number (kidding on this last one), and so on, make remembering them all virtually impossible. 

Experts caution us about how we save passwords. Yet, we are urged to change them frequently.  Well, those of you blessed with a much better memory than mine are probably doing just fine. However, in my case, I find myself concerned about saving the password in a bad place and then just waiting for that supreme hack that will rob us of all we own, our children and grandchildren, and our emotional security for generations to come.  Not a pretty picture.

That said, I came upon an article in CNET the other day that essentially tells us that the methodology we have been encouraged to use to create our passwords for maximum security are now basically, well, ineffective. 

Say that again?

Apparently setting up complex passwords comprised of random characters and symbols is not as effective as, say, setting up a password you make up with identifiable and simple characters.

Mind you, I am not talking about using ‘12345’ or ‘password,’ but much less complex and cumbersome than those we are challenged to create today.

Where did this opinion come from?  No less an authority than the so called “father of the modern password,” Bill Burr.

In an article titled “Father of passwords regrets the advice he gave,” CNET writer Chris Matyszczyk writes that Mr. Burr recently has had a change of heart as to what comprises an effective password.

In 2003 Burr recommended that passwords should be made up of an entirely random string of letters and symbols.  This was the best way known then to minimize the chance of a hacker guessing a password.

He has changed his opinion, however, and “It turned out that these are easier for hackers to crack than, say, weird words that you can actually remember. Like ‘gobbledegook.’ Or ‘nincompoop.’”  Please don’t use these, though, as they are only examples from Mr. Matyszczyk.

Why the change of heart?  According to Matyszczyk “Over the years, people seem to have used similar techniques to create their ‘random’ combinations, which made them actually less random.”

Well, then.

Matyszczyk says that we should not be too hard on Mr. Burr.  I agree.  When he wrote that opinion who would have guessed the level of constant hacking that goes on every day, and how successful so much of it is? Random strings of letters and numbers certainly seemed logical and safe.

What to do?

Certainly, do not use simple and easy to guess passwords.  Most sites and apps still require password content to conform to their standards.  We don’t have much choice if the password is required to be complex and as random as possible.

At A. Alliance we pride ourselves on the security of our systems and the protocols we use to protect our client’s data and secure access to our systems. We utilize multiple layers of security to ensure data integrity and do encourage our clients to change their passwords with some regularity and of course advise us when users change and new access credentials need to be created.  However, it is good to know that we can potentially create easier to remember personal passwords that are more secure than originally thought.  Password security, it would seem, does not always go hand in hand with complexity and inconvenience.

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 12 years.

Who Sits Where Can Affect Productivity and Profits in the Workplace

Have your heard, sitting is the new smoking? I don’t know that I really buy that, but studies have shown that sitting for hours at a time can increase your risk of heart disease and overall mortality—bummer!  But, it’s not only the act of sitting all day that can change your life, where you sit can also make a big difference.

Businesses often spend a lot of time and money on a wide variety of tactics (think: training/education, performance management, incentives and rewards, stuff like that) in a quest to increase employee performance. But, as it turns out, changing the seating arrangement—playing musical chairs—might be the quickest and cheapest way of increasing an organization’s performance.

I recently read an article about a study conducted by Cornerstone OnDemand and Harvard Business School regarding how the distance between two employees’ desks affects various performance measures and how simply placing the right type of workers in close proximity to one another can generate up to a 15 percent increase in performance. 

The study revealed 3 types of workers: Productive, Quality, and Generalists. Productive employees work quickly, but lack high quality. Quality employees have high quality work, but lack speed and Generalists are fairly average on both fronts. 

The research found that if you put a person who works quickly without high quality (a Productive) next to an employee who works slower but with higher quality (a Quality) ‘spillover’ will occur. The higher quality work will spill over to the Productive worker and increased speed will spill over to the Quality worker. This results in a boost in performance for both. According to the study, there was a 13 percent gain in productivity and a 17 percent gain in effectiveness. 

Unfortunately, ‘spillover’ only lasts as long as the seating arrangement.  If the employees are separated, the enhanced productivity disappears.  And ‘spillover’ isn’t always beneficial.  The study also found ‘spillover’ taking place in employees who are in close proximity to toxic employees, resulting in an increase of negative performance through misconduct and unethical behavior. I guess this proves the old adage: it only takes one bad apple…

I also read another article on the subject by Rachel Feintzeig in the Wall Street Journal that talks about companies that have taken this seating arrangement thing to the next level. For example, MODCO Media, a New York advertising agency, played with different seating arrangement within their agency. They went so far as to blend different departments (media buyers and accountants) hoping the close proximity would cause the skills of one department to rub-off on the other.  Surprisingly, this worked so well the company was able to cut back on its accounting department. The media buyers began to understand the financial side so well they were able to incorporate accounting skills into their daily routines. 

Enhanced skills aren’t the only thing that can be gleaned from close proximity, a person’s disposition can also morph. According to Segal Barsade, a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, “People literally catch emotions from one another like a virus,” she said. Luckily, her research found that low-energy, sluggishness is the least contagious emotional state and a calm, relaxed state is the most contagious. Got an unhappy, high-stressed worker?  Try sitting them next to a cheerful, energetic person. 

Don’t just throw caution to the wind when experimenting with seating arrangements, not all will provide major breakthrough like the one seen for MODCO Media, some changes can have negative ramifications.

With all of this new information we are going to have to give this seating arrangement thing some serious thought here at A. Alliance.  My biggest question, where will I end up when the music stops?

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 12 years.

Have You Had The Talk With Your Kids Yet?

No, not That Talk.  I mean The Talk about health insurance, why it is so important to have, and what it will cost to pay for and use it.

I came upon an article posted on CNBC by Abigail Summerville titled “The 5 health-care terms every millennial should know.” As someone who has young adults entering the job market, I thought her summary useful and worth passing on.

She includes five key definitions provided by Katelyn Gleason, CEO of Eligible, a developer of health-care Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).  I have edited them a bit and added a sixth to her list. 

  1. Premium: This is the amount of money you pay for the insurance policy.  Not unlike other types of insurance, the premium only covers the policy and does not necessarily cover the costs of services you use.
  2. Out-of-pocket costs: These are the costs for medical care that are not reimbursed by insurance. They include co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance for covered services, plus all costs for services that aren’t covered.  Typically, there is an annual cap on out of pocket expenses.  Gleason provided the following example. Say you develop a serious medical issue and the costs add up to $100,000 for that year. If your out-of-pocket maximum is $10,000, then after you have paid $10,000 (generally through co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance) your insurer is responsible for the other $90,000.
  3. Co-pay: A co-pay is a predetermined amount of money you would pay out of your pocket when you receive medical care. However, the co-pay can vary depending on what type of care you need or the type of doctor you visit.  For example, as Gleason points out, there is usually a smaller co-pay for visiting your regular doctor, and a higher co-pay for an emergency room visit.  Know too, however, that some services have no co-pays.  Rather, 100% of the cost is paid by you and applied to the policy’s deductible or co-insurance.
  4. Deductible: This is a specified amount of money you must pay before an insurance company will begin to pay for certain types of claims. For example, a routine visit to your regular doctor may be covered by a co-pay, but any tests which may be ordered may be charged to you at 100% of the network cost until your deductible is met.  For example, if you have a $500 deductible, and the tests cost $100, you would pay the co-pay plus the $100.  Once you have reached the $500 deductible level, then any additional costs would likely be applied to co-insurance.
  5. Co-insurance: Some plans include a provision where the insured also pays a share of the payment above and beyond the deductible. For example, say your co-insurance is 20 percent and you receive a medical bill of $1,000.  After you have paid your deductible, you would pay $200 and your insurer would pay $800. You typically pay co-insurance after meeting your annual deductible and it is capped by your out of pocket maximum.
  6. In network / out of network providers: The difference if often a significant source of confusion.  Most plans have a defined ‘network’ of healthcare providers with which the plan has contracted to provide services at a defined and often significantly discounted rate.  Providers who have contractually agreed would be ‘in-network’ for the plan. If the providers do not they are considered ‘out of network’ and more than likely you will have to pay the full cost of the service.  Thus, it is very important to verify if the provider is in-network or out of network before receiving services.  This can be a major source of surprise when a bill for services comes.

Here at A. Alliance we know all too well that health related debts are the number one source of bad debt, and often this is the result of patients not fully knowing or understanding the cost of their insurance or the services their policies will pay for.  Helping our young adults understand the ins and outs of health insurance can prevent financial surprises which often impact debt and even credit ratings. 

A. Alliance Collection Agency, Inc. is a full service, licensed accounts receivable management and debt collection agency providing highly effective, customized one on one management and recovery solutions for our business partners.  Founded in northern Illinois in 2005, we have been proudly improving the bottom-line on behalf of our business partners in and around Chicagoland for over 12 years.