Strong Passwords
The area of computer security is vast, and no one person can ever learn everything there is to know about the subject. There are thousands of tools out there aimed at various aspects of information security. Think of security as layers of an onion. Each layer has a specific job in protecting your system. Each layer is important, and your system will not be secure without multiple layers.
One of the most basic layers, and the first line of defense, is setting an administrative password. Setting a password is one of the most important lines of defense you can deploy. Setting a strong password is important, because weak passwords are easily hacked.
Strong passwords consist of:
• Both upper, and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols
• A strong password should be 7-15 characters long
• Example: 1Akh69ejU%3#
Now, you’re probably thinking there’s no way you will ever be able to remember something like that! You would probably have to write your password down somewhere, which is a very bad thing to do as someone could find it and wreak havoc on your system. An alternative to this would be to come up with a passphrase, something that is made up of all the components of a strong password, but also sounds like a real phrase.
• Example: 1L0veB@s$ball
“I love baseball” is an easy phrase to remember right? Now you have a strong password that is not easily forgettable.
Another thing to remember about passwords is to not use the same one over and over again on different accounts. If you have several email accounts, online banking, or any other type of account that you need to log in to, it’s easier for most people to just use the same log in information for each site. Don’t do this! If a hacker is able to steal this information from one site, say for example Yahoo mail gets hacked, and you have a Yahoo account, then all they have to do is take that information and run it against several different sites. They might get lucky and presto! They have your log in information to your bank account!
Remember, you have nothing to lose by using as many security layers as possible… except your whole life! Take the first step and set those passwords, and make them strong!
Password Recovery and Management
Now, let’s say you set your strong password on your computer, and cannot, for the life of you, remember what it is. A Password Recovery Tool can help you get back in. There are many on the market, just find one that matches your operating system and look into it. It will be a lot cheaper than taking your computer in to a repair shop.
Microsoft Windows has a feature built in to their operating systems which allows you to create a password reset disk. Create this disk, and if you forget your password you can use the disk to recover. This is a very handy tool because if you reset your password by some other method, you might lose access to any encrypted files you may have. The password rest disk will still allow access to your encrypted files.
Of course the best thing to do is to not lose your password in the first place. Password management tool or password management software can be extremely beneficial to you if you have several accounts with different passwords. Do some research, find the best one for you, and use it! If you manage your passwords effectively, you will never have to go through the anguish many people do, due to lost passwords.
Good luck in your endeavors, and stay protected!
HM
