Tuesday, May 22, 2012

How to choose the best PASSWORD...


The Importance of Protecting Every Password

Choosing the right password, first of all try to avoid using your personal information or the name of your favorite sport team


With more and more activities being carried out over the Internet, it becomes increasingly important to pick a safe password online. It doesn't matter whether you're setting up an online password for a social media site such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn or personal banking information. Your passwords should be considered a lifeblood for your personal information.

Never Discount the Importance of Protecting Every Password Too often when people consider what passphrase should be for different sites, they assume that unless there is personal financial information stored on a particular site that they don't have to give too much thought to the passwords they use. This is one of the main reasons why identity thieves and criminals love to scour the Internet, focusing first on the most innocuous and seemingly innocent sites. The problem with this way of thinking is that most people, when they come up with a key that they like (which normally equates to something that is easy to remember), they may only add a few simple variations to it when applying that same password to those more sensitive websites, such as their banking accounts, credit cards, and other financial transaction sites.


What Not to Consider When Choosing a Safe Password Online While there is no right answer when it comes to choosing a safe password online, there are plenty of things to avoid. The first and most important one is to not use your name. It doesn't matter if it's your first name, last name, or even a nickname. Sure, it's easy for you to remember, but that means it will also be easy for criminals to figure it out. Another type of password to avoid is anything that is associated with a favorite sports team, athlete or celebrity. You see, if you choose a sports team, or even the star athlete on that team, for your password, all someone would need to do would be to scour some of the social profiles about you and figure out what that might be. If you're a Rangers fan, for example, then you might use 'RangerFan101'. Now, that may appear safe to you (after all, it has several letters, two capitals, and numbers), but in reality it is a generic approach.



Choosing the Right Password If you want to protect your online information and accounts, then start by choosing either a word that has no personal connection to you. You may also decide on a random series of letters and numbers. People often worry that they will forget their password, which is why they tend to choose easy to remember ones. Safety is more important than convenience when it comes to protecting yourself online. Use a variation of letters and numbers in your password. If a site requires at least one capital letter, vary which letters are capitalized. Once you've chosen your password, write it down and store it in a safe place. It's also important to not use the same password for all of your important sites. Over time you will begin to remember your password, no matter how random it is and you'll make it nearly impossible for someone to guess what it is.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Shimoda

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