Understanding Password Security
Understanding Password Security
Understanding Password Security
Computers are wonderful tools, and we entrust a large amount of our most private personal information to them. Often, the only barrier between our credit card statements, journal entries, web search history, business plans, and other private information is a simple string of letters or numbers: a password. This single piece of information is the key which open an individual's personal life to anyone who has it. So, why do so many people have bad passwords?
This article is about just that--what is a bad password, how can it be abused, how to make a good password, and how to manage your information securely. A serious or even a casual user of computers and other digital technology would be wise to heed this advice; it could save you a lot of time, money, embarrassment, and hassle.
Imagine this scenario. You sit down at your computer to think of a password. You are at home, you feel comfortable, you want to be able to remember the password every day, so you choose the password: love. Or home. Or family. Or peace. These are some of the most common passwords and, here's a secret: you're not the only one who uses them. They're easy to remember, and they feel warm and fuzzy. The problem is that password hacking devices run through these most common passwords first. Very often, out of hundreds of thousands of possible combinations, they don't have to try out more than a few hundred.
So what makes a good password? It should be easy to remember. That is important, because a password you have to write down or are liable to forget is not going to be secure and reliable either. This makes passwords related to your personal information or values, which make poor choices by themselves, effective 'bases' for a secure keyword.
Let's take the word 'puppy', which you chose in honor of your dog, Joey. Fine, start with that. Then make it secure by adding the following elements: numbers, symbols, 7 to 10 total characters, and unique personal information. The password PuppyJo04!, in honor of your dog which you purchased in 2004, is a much better password, and it still can remind you of your dog and be easy to keep in your head.
Now that you have a secure password, you need to use it properly. If you can, don't write it down. A password that can be found by a common thief who picks the sticky note off of your laptop might as well be able to read your thoughts. Once stolen, identity theft is that much easier. So memorize the password, or, use the secure password features in a browser like Firefox. Companies like Roboform specialize in very advanced password management for people who handle multiple accounts with personal information.
Make sure that your passwords are also 'active', meaning, that you are required to use them. If your computer's password screen is turned off for convenience, then it won't do much good to have a secure password. Following these steps to improve passwords are simple to do but can make a big difference in your digital security. Keep them in mind the next time you log in.
ADT Security System Security Systems and Surveillance How to Completely And Quickly Uninstall Remove Security Master AV? Maoists Emerging As The Biggest Threat To India's Security Security at Work How to Uninstall McAfee Security Center Access Control And Card Entry Security Systems Remove Green AV Security Suite - How to Remove Green AV Security Suite Completely remove XP Security Tool 2010 - How to remove XP Security Tool 2010? Remove Security Tool - How to Remove Security Tool Easily How To Remove The "Malware Defense" Rogue Security Program Completely From Your System What You Need To Know About Social Security Need to Crack PDF Security Settings In Case PDF Files are Password Protected