![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PasswordInfo2025.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhy This Matters for Charities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
While we may not consider ourselves high-profile targets, Christian charities are far from immune to cyber threats. Bad actors don\u2019t always discriminate; they look for weak points. Reused or weak passwords are, unfortunately, one of the most common vulnerabilities in any organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A compromised account can lead to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Unauthorized access to donor or financial data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Fraudulent emails are sent in your name.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Loss of trust with your community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve Never Had a Problem\u2026\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s what most people say\u2014until it happens. The truth is, cyber threats don\u2019t always look dramatic. Many data breaches happen quietly, often going unnoticed for weeks or months. If your passwords are easy to guess or if you use the same one across multiple accounts, your risk increases significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Makes a Good Password?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A strong password is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Long<\/strong> \u2013 aim for at least 12\u201316 characters<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Unique<\/strong> \u2013 never reused across accounts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Random<\/strong> \u2013 not based on your pet\u2019s name, birthday, or anything guessable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Memorable<\/strong> \u2013 something you\u2019ll remember but isn\u2019t obvious to others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Some of my best passwords are movie or TV quotes. They\u2019re certainly long enough, and they include capitals and lowercase letters. Spaces count as special characters for most websites these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A password manager app is your best bet for keeping track of strong passwords. These tools store your credentials securely and can generate complex, random passwords for each site you use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note:<\/strong> While saving passwords in your browser may be convenient, it\u2019s not secure. Browsers store them in plain text, making them vulnerable if your device is compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What You Can Do Today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Audit your passwords<\/strong>
Take some time to review your most important logins\u2014email, donation platforms, cloud storage, etc. Are the passwords strong? Are they reused? Are they written down on a Post-It stuck to your monitor or under your mouse pad\/desk mat?
<\/li>\n\n\n\n- Change any weak or reused passwords<\/strong>
Use a password manager or write down your passwords temporarily<\/em> and store them securely until you can move to a better system.
<\/li>\n\n\n\n- Encourage your team to do the same<\/strong>
Good password habits only protect you if everyone\u2019s on board.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nStewardship Includes Cybersecurity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As stewards of our organization\u2019s resources and relationships, we\u2019re called to guard what\u2019s been entrusted to us\u2014not just in the physical world but also online. Let\u2019s not leave the door unlocked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Charitable organizations handle sensitive information every day. We manage donor databases, staff records, online banking credentials, and more. We work hard to steward these resources well, but many of us overlook one of the simplest and most critical lines of defence: strong passwords. Hive Systems has released its annual Password… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":38498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ts_fic_featured_image_caption":"Laptop keyboard with blue keys. One of the keys is red and reads password.","footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[204,756],"series":[],"class_list":["post-38482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-charity","tag-cybersecurity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38482"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=38482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Change any weak or reused passwords<\/strong>
- Unique<\/strong> \u2013 never reused across accounts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Long<\/strong> \u2013 aim for at least 12\u201316 characters<\/li>\n\n\n\n