Annette Riley Web Design 
Wednesday Web Tip                                             July 18, 2012

I will be sending a quick Web Tip to you on the first Wednesday of each month, or whenever I have a tip to share! The tip will be short, important to know and easy to implement.  

 

How to Create a Strong Password 

  

Imagine checking your email account and finding over 2000 SPAM emails, and more coming in every few seconds! That actually happened to one of my clients recently.

 

Hackers went on a rampage last week and hacked into accounts at Yahoo, Gmail, AOL, Hotmail and more. Early reports and later analysis said they targeted popular passwords like "123456" and "password."

 

So much of life's activities are conducted online, so you need to protect yourself with a strong password. If you have an easy or obvious password, now is the time to make a change.  

 

Here are some Tips for safer passwords:

  • Long passwords are better that short passwords. Use 8 or more characters.
  • Make them tricky to figure out. Include a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Don't use personal information. Spelling your name backwards or using your street address is not hard to figure out.
  • Use different passwords for different accounts. It is tempting to use the same password for everything, but it is not a good idea. If one account is compromised, it is then easier for others to be hacked as well.
  • Change your password periodically. Especially on email, credit card or banking websites.
  • You can check the strength of your password with various password checker tools. Here is a password checker from Microsoft.   

I realize it is a royal pain to create and manage all of these passwords. But it is nothing compared to having your credit card account hacked, or having an email account that contains 2496 SPAM emails... and counting...

  

You can check out my website for past hints, articles and newsletters!


 Annette
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