PeopleareParked.com

In a recent conversation with someone, who by the way is quite savvy, we got on the subject of passwords. We were ordering a computer part online and she was concerned that her password would be kept on file on the site. I said yes, but they don’t share them or at least say they don’t. Then it dawned on me that she was using the same password for every sign-up, site, online bank access etc. and didn’t want to give that one out.

I guess I just took this fact for granted that everyone knew they should have many different passwords, but maybe I learned it from being in the computer industry. It’s OK and highly encouraged to use different passwords for every different site. If someone gained access to your Facebook account password, it would make it easier for them to know your bank account password, if it was the same. Now, just because someone knows a password, doesn’t mean they could get into your bank account. Thankfully, there are other safeguards, like unique usernames, security questions etc. so a password in and of itself wouldn’t allow access. I just wouldn’t want to make it easier for someone.

Here are some suggestions for password types. For bank accounts, use the more secure form that includes letters(uppercase and lowercase) along with number combinations. Example: 84XtiR32Y - very secure, very hard to remember, so you would have to write them down to keep track. For fun sites, I use throwaway passwords, or things I can remember, like my dog’s name with numbers. Another good idea is to change them every so often for the same site.

Hope that helps you surf safer or remember to help our less savvy surfing buddies.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 8:40 pm and is filed under Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.