SolveYourProblem
eLearning Series
Internet Security
How
To Choose a Secure Password
If
you use a computer or go online, you are going to need
a password. You need a password to get into a
computer, to go online or to enter a website. Many websites
now require a password to enter. Without a doubt, creating
and remembering various passwords are a pain. Managing your
passwords safely may mean having to make up numerous arcane
number and letter combinations, all according to each website’s
required minimum or maximum character count. You may have to
memorize or take many notes on what password belongs to what
website. And when you’re done logging all your passwords with
the corresponding websites - it’s time to change them again.
Unfortunately, passwords are a necessary evil to keep your
information private and secured.
Your
password should be as least obvious as possible. For
instance, you never want to use your name, or your spouse,
child or dog’s name. These are too easy. If you like collecting
pyramids don’t use “pyramid” as your password. If you are a
wrestling fan, don’t create a password after a popular wrestler.
And so on. You want to keep your passwords safe by not making
them so obvious. Uncovered passwords are the easiest way for
a hacker to break in to your online account and have their
way with your account until you discover something’s wrong.
Hackers are known for scouring the World Wide Web in search
of finding passwords that match with dictionary listings and
they also have perfected other tools to help find those easy
passwords.
Most
people find it very difficult to manage their passwords. During a recent online survey, Over fifty percent of online
consumers report using a combination of numbers and letters
in their passwords while many of them admitted to using the
name of pet or a person; 40% report keeping their passwords
written down in notebooks or post it’s, where they can be easily
viewed, lost or stolen; 34% report they have never changed
their passwords; And 27% of these passwords users describe
themselves as PC professionals.
Appropriate password management will never be easy, but you
can at least simplify it. Prevention is the key. If you can
prevent your password from being discovered, you are protecting
yourself and your personal and financial information from hackers.
Here are the top four ways to insure a secure password:
1.
Trick your memory into creating better passwords. You can
start with the title of a movie you saw recently or a favorite
book. You can take the first letter of each title word and
add a meaningful number at the beginning, middle, or end, such
as your golden birthday or the year you started school. Each
time you update your password, you can use a different movie,
book and year. For your minor online accounts such as movie
sites, news sites and other websites that don’t have your personal
or financial information, you may choose a combination of initials
and a month or year you graduated from high school, such as
RWS061993 for the Herald News. For the more critical website
passwords, such as your banking and credit card accounts, make
the password as difficult as possible, perhaps by using a series
of letters and numbers, like 10rT31w05s. The password can also
become more difficult to create or remember if the website
is case sensitive.
2.
Never use the same password with every website or for all
of your transactions. Although this only makes for one password
to remember, once your password is figured out, the hacker
can get into all of your accounts. Hackers can cause a lot
of damage before they are discovered and this is what you want
to prevent.
3.
Try a password management tool to help reduce the hassle
of managing your passwords. If you decide to use a password
management tool, find one that will encrypt and store all of
your data on your PC, such as Siber System or Roman Labs. Be
careful if you are allowing Windows to store your passwords,
especially if the PC is shared by other people. Multiple users
can put your passwords at risk.
4.
Change all of your critical website passwords often, usually
every 3 months or so. For the minor online websites, or those
without your personal or financial information, you should
change those at least once or twice a year. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com : 2007
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