By Milan Stijepovic.
Managing online usernames and passwords isn't the easiest thing to do. If you are like me you probably pay your credit cards, view forums, subscribe to blogs, edit your website as well as a ton of other things.
But how do you keep track of all the passwords? Sure you can use the same password for all of your online activities but isn't that dangerous? How does someone really secure their online surfing when it comes to passwords and password protection online?
Did you know that most people use the same username and password for ALL of their online surfing activities? Some people add a variation here and there, but many do not. Forget the hackers! Watch out for your room mate!
How easy do you think it would be for someone in your own home to get a hold of this valuable information?
Here are some suggestions you can take to create some stronger passwords that are going to help protect you from online hackers, phishers and other people out to steal your identity.
Create a password that has both letters and numbers in it and make sure it is at least 8 characters long. This is probably one of the most basic things you can do to protect yourself. The main idea is to not create the same password for your entire set of password log-ins.
You will want to create variations, think of it this way...Your password and its variations are similar to a lock and its tumblers. Do you use the same key to get in your house as you do to get in your car? Then why are you using the same password to get into all of your sites?
One trick you can use to help defeat password prowlers is different languages integrated into your passwords. It is a proven fact that hackers use English frequency dictionaries in English-speaking countries to try and discover your identity. Try to mix it up a bit and don't use the same password twice.
Some online websites allow you to use case sensitive characters in your password, but who on earth is going to be able to remember every single website and every single password? Sure you can keep a log on paper and some people do that, but that can be a nightmare in it self.
You can also try to jumble mix your passwords like so.
Xx%14j65gots76
That's about as serious as it gets in personal encryption but again difficult to remember and even more difficult to input especially when you are in a hurry.
You can also try something like this...
Password#1 - blueelephant295
Password#2 - greenelephant592
Password#3 - pinkelephant952
This type of pass wording can provide some relevance and still maintain a different tempo in regards to fooling the hackers or room mates. A little easier to remember, but again probably easily beat by someone that really wants to get into your system.
At the end of the day you can experiment and try to create a system that works for you. Allowing you to stay password protected and still maintain a fair level of clarity when trying to remember your log-in passwords and usernames.
You want to make sure you are covered when it comes to these bullet points and ask your self does my username and password do the following?
- Is it easy to remember
- Does it provide a heightened level of security
- Is it obscure enough that people won't guess it
- Will it clash with any of my other passwords
Most importantly you need to understand that the user name and passwords you use online are what protect you and your identity. With the higher risk of hackers and phishers looking to steal your identity it would be wise to invest some extra measures to safeguard this one important aspect of your online visit.
There is a lot of password management software available on the Internet that will make your life so much easier. The best one that I have discovered is Roboform, it's been downloaded over 11 million times for good reason, plain and simple...It works. You can download it for free.
Click the link below.
www.roboform.com
Milan P.S. Identity Theft is on the rise. Click the link above to get organized for free.
About the Author:
Milan Stijepovic is the editor of The Minty Secret | The Minty Secret.
Article Source: http://www.goarticles.com