Password Basics

You use the internet for many activities such as banking, shopping, and communicating through email, instant messaging and social networking. How can you ensure that your personal information, identity, passwords, banking and credit card numbers are protected from hackers and other malicious users?

Your password is the key that opens the door to online banking, shopping and communication. You should create passwords that are difficult to guess or crack. Hackers make use of both technical and non-technical methods to obtain your passwords. They often will use social engineering techniques to obtain information directly from users. They also use computer programs (which are easily available) to “hack” or “crack” your passwords using both brute force and dictionary attacks.

Here are a few tips:

1. Don’t use the same password for all of your accounts. If you are using a single password for all of your accounts and a hacker gains access to this password, then he gains access to ALL of your accounts.

2. Create passwords that are easy to remember but difficult to guess.

• Do use long passwords. The longer your passwords the more difficult they are to guess.
• Do use a mix of letters, upper- and lower-case; numbers, and special characters (.,*&^%$#!). The website will specify which characters are valid for use in your passwords
• Don’t use names of spouses, children, friends, or pets.
• Don’t use phone numbers, Social Security numbers or birthdates.
• Don’t use the same word as your log-in, or any variation including substitutions
• Don’t use any word that can be found in the dictionary — even foreign words.
• Don’t repeat any characters.
• Don’t use a blank password.

Microsoft provides a Password Checker to check the strength of your password.

For those who are interested, PC Tools has a site that will assist you in creating a completely random password:

http://www.pctools.com/guides/password

3. Don’t share your password with anyone. You alone are responsible for any activity done in your account.

4. Don’t write down your password.

5. Do change your password often.

6. Never store your password in your web browser.

Many sites request that you submit an answer to a number of secret questions in the event that you forget your password. The most common questions are:

1. Mother’s maiden name
2. Favorite color
3. Make or model of first car
4. Name of best friend
5. Name of school

The answers to these questions can be easily guessed or hacked. Often hackers will use information that you supply on social networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, Orkut, etc. to supply the answers to these questions.

If your website or service allows you to create your own secret question, do it. If not, create a substitution method that works for you. For example, if you choose mother’s maiden name as your secret question, use a number. If you choose your favorite color as your secret question, choose your home state as the answer.

You can find more information about passwords GeodSoft’s How To site.

Taking these simple steps will keep your personal information from malicious users and protect you and your family from the pains that accompany identity theft.

Practice Safe Computing!

Tagged as: Hackers, Online Protection, Passwords, Safe Computing, Social Engineering