Get security savvy and change those passwords on the regular!
April 11, 2010 Computer Safety Tip
There is no sure fire way to ensure the data you have in your computer system and in your carious online accounts will 
remain secure and untouched – as these days, malware engineers are advancing their tactics and schemes rather rapidly – all as a means to keep abreast of the latest technology advances, and accordingly – dupe more users unknowingly to them.
The best way to ensure your data remains untouched would be to ensure certain security measures are well in place – and fully operational, not to mention functional.
A security measure that many computer users take forgranted and simply don’t put much thought into is the passwords required by certain online applications, etc. A password should be unique, and difficult to estimate. One should never use passwords which can be easily guessed, for example: your name, your significant others’ name or your birthday date. Always keep them guessing, I would say!
A password management survey conducted by the security firm, Symantec, recently revealed that 63% of respondents (of which there were approximately 400 responses from various readers) did not change their passwords often at all, whilst 45% alter their passwords for the various applications they utilize, whereas 10% of the respondents claimed they did not change their passwords at all.
Many experts have highlighted in the past how easy it is to simply eradicate password phishing etc. All computer users need to do is take precautions to ensure their computer security is at its optimal. It is of general consensus all round – the first step to combating security exploits would be to ensure a functional and effective password system is in place.
An effective password is one that is difficult to guess but also easy for the user to remember.
Below are a few tips for creating an effective and strong password:
- Use a mash up of numbers, letters, punctuation and symbols.
- Take a meaningful word or phrase – one that resonates with you – and alter it somewhat – this way ensuring it remains unique.
- Replace characters in your word or phrase with numbers or symbols
- The longer the password, the stronger the password and the more difficult to crack…
- Steer clear of personal information, repetition and dictionary words.
Here is an excellent example of a good and strong password co0mbination:
Taking any sentence as the password, for instance: “let the sun shine”, now rearrange so that the password will be strong and effective by replacing the letter ‘e’ with the number ‘3’ and ‘s’ with the character ‘$’ – so that the password now reads like this: “l3tTh3$un$hin3”
Judging from the example above, I think it is safe to say that this particular example of password will definitely not be easily guessed or infiltrated.
All in all – I would say that it is far better to initially ensure the safety of your computer – as prevention is always better than cure. Word to the wise!
