business information. They are the key to accessing membership,
financial, and other web sites that you are a member of. All
sorts of havoc can occur in your life if some unauthorized person
discovers your password. Here are some tips for making that event
less likely:
1. Don't use easily guess passwords like a date of birth, spouse,
child's or pet's name. In fact, don't use any word or phrase that
even remotely relates to you or your world. You need to use a
password which is difficult for anyone to guess but is not so
difficult for you to remember.
2. Use a combination of upper and lower case letters, symbols and
numbers to make the password harder to guess. Some web sites do
not allow symbols so you may not be able to always use them.
Almost all web sites treat passwords as CaSe SeNsItIvE so mixing
case is a good idea.
3. Make your password at least eight characters long. Longer is
even better. The more characters there are the harder it will be
to guess.
4. Use a different password for each account or web site. That
way if one gets compromised you'll still be protected elsewhere.
5. Change your passwords frequently. Pick a period, like the 15th
of each month, and change all of your passwords on that date.
6. Do not write your passwords down anywhere. You never know who
is checking your drawers or file cabinet when you're not around.
Also, do not store your passwords in an electronic filing device
like a PDA. That's just as insecure as a piece of paper if you
lose the device and someone who is less than honest finds it.
If you have too many passwords to keep track of then consider
using a password manager program. There are a lot of them on the
market but be careful: some of them contain "adware" which will
pop up ads every time you are online. Most of the free password
managers contain some degree of adware. Here's one that doesn't:
http://www.roboform.com/
7. Never share your password with anyone else. If you have to,
then change it immediately afterwards.
8. Avoid using "dictionary" words. There are password-cracking
programs that will check every word in the dictionary. If you
want to use words then break them up with non-word characters.
For example: BuIlT*99$APPlE is difficult for anything other than
the most sophisticated password-cracking program to guess because
it is combined with non-alphabet characters and it is in mixed
case.
9. Don't use "password" or "none" as your password! Don't even
use "PaSsWoRd"!
10. If someone calls or sends you e-mail claiming that they are
from your bank, or credit card company, or anywhere else that you
have a password with, NEVER give them your password or PIN no
matter what story they tell you. It's a scam. No one will ever
ask for your password. Legitimate administrators of your
password-protected accounts do not need your password to access
your files during the normal course of their business dealings
with you.
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