On Line Security and Passwords

How Safe Is Your Password?

Nearly everybody uses the internet daily. It's safe to suggest that it is here to stay and is not going to be going anywhere fast. It is difficult to think of a life without the internet and computers. Where would we go for news? How would we communicate with one another? How would people buy stuff? Routines are increasingly becoming busy. A lot of people use the net mainly because it is faster and usually more convenient. However this also means people have to be increasingly cautious with the important information most of us publish on the net. The increasing amount of online crime and identity fraud is an increasing worry for internet users.

First of all, it is essential to use an excellent password. Too many internet users use incredibly unsafe passwords that would be easy to crack. Cyber criminals use powerful tools that attempt to hack your password. The more vulnerable your password, the easier it is to hack into your accounts. There are several simple and easy guidelines to have a more effective password. Arguably the most important rule is to never ever use a word which can be found in a dictionary. Passwords ought to be at least six characters long (the longer the password, the better). There are four types of characters to use for an excellent password: make use of upper and lower casing, use numerical characters and use special characters (punctuation symbols). Variation is extremely important for an excellent password, by using all four types of characters you will have a good password. An easy idea is to exchange normal letters for numbers and special characters. For example, s becomes a $, e becomes a £ or a becomes a 4. These are quite easy steps to follow but having an excellent password is one of the most important defences in combating internet crime.

Secondly, you must always be watchful of what is published online. The increasing popularity of social networks and customisable home pages has made it even easier for cyber criminals to commit online identity theft. It is important to keep in mind what personal information you are putting online. The relative anonymity of the net and the ease at which all of us can communicate with one another has meant people are often quite relaxed when it comes to the personal information they upload on to the internet. Private information like your age and your address are things which are very important to always keep private. Whenever you do make this information public then you should keep it private and share it only with people whom you trust totally.

One thing to try is to use an online password management service. These are free services you can use that make handling your usernames and passwords easier and safer. Online password management tools work by storing your username and password information safely and securely online. They either work by being local to your computer (installing them to your browser) or by being online (where you register for an online account). They are very helpful tools as they take away the need for remembering complicated passwords. What this means is you are able to have really strong passwords and use different passwords for each online account you have. Password strength is undermined by using the same password for each of your accounts. Some may also log you into your accounts for you. However, people might not necessarily trust online password managers however they are very helpful and really rather safe.

Finally, you should be aware of two points: using a strong password and be careful what information you post on the web. These are easy to follow recommendations and while it might be tempting to ignore them, online security is something you should take into consideration.


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