Social Networking Password Safety Tips
Five years ago, things were uncomplicated on the web - you often had just a single password to store for your email account. These days though it’s not uncommon to have 20 or 30 passwords created for a myriad of online services you’ve joined. So what happens? Lots of people are inclined to use the same password again and again. Some people may not think their Bebo profile as being majorly important, but it is if you’re using the very same password as you are for your WorldPay account. Of course, the convenience of having to remember just one password is persuasive, but what if a hacker gets their hands on that single password? That’s right, they potentially have access to all of the servives you’ve signed up to that use that same password. And if you are tempted to think they don’t know what other services you’ve signed up to, they don’t need to. They run web application programs which screen thousands of online services and try to match your account name/password pairing that they know about.
It’s an issue, but it’s easily remedied. Actually, it’s not required to remember every username/password. Let your browser do it. Be it your Twitter acount or Email password. Ask your browser to store each username/password, and then setup a master password just in case an intruder gets hold of your computer. If they do so, they will have to enter the master password in order to login to any of your services. Or to put it another way, you can sign up to dozens of services, and just have to remember one password : your web browser’s master password (achieving what you wanted to do in a safe fashion - involving just the single password.
When making passwords, make them long and random, for example X4563Jde34 which is an assortment of numbers, lower and upper case characters. Since you don’t need to remember them, be as obscure as you wish. Whatever you do, don’t use dictionary phrases as your password, as these are effortless to discover for hackers.
