Evidence Based Posting #3- Monday, May 21st. '07

Evidence Based Posting #3 –Monday, May 21st. ‘07

“5 Mistakes You May Be Making When Choosing Passwords”

You think you have it all figured out and no one can get your information online. Think again!! This article is eye opening. I thought my information was protected from hackers until I read this article. People think that their information is safe with the passwords they have chosen. Nicole Dean the writer of the article “5 Mistakes You May Be Making When Choosing Passwords” lists the top 5 commonly made mistakes individuals make and they are:" Mistake #1: Using the same passwords for all accounts. Deans advises to use different passwords for all the many different accounts you have. Mistake #2: Short passwords: Individuals need to create longer passwords. The longer the better because it becomes harder for hackers to figure it out. Mistake #3: BradPitt, Charlie, Sarah, Princess, Barbie, Gandolf—Did I guess it yet? Never put names of people or family members you know. Mistake #4: Easy to remember English words. Forget making passwords up in English, make some up in German, Spanish, Russian or any other language you speak, and Mistake #5: Numbers are no-no’s. On line hackers can break numbered passwords of maybe your birthdates and anniversaries.”[1]

Nicole Dean suggests that “if all this sounds too hard to remember, then consider using a Password program. Most of the good password programs will not only store your passwords on your computer, but they’ll generate completely random passwords when you need one.” [2] Dean lists three sites that individuals can go too that can help them with keeping their passwords safe and they are: “www.fgroupsoft.com/Traysafe/
www.treepad.com/treepadsafe and http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/.” [3]

Next time you want to create a new password think of this article. These tools that Nicole Dean provides may avoid you from having sleepless nights and wondering if someone online has your information.

[1]
1 Dean, Nicole. 5 Mistakes You Might Be Making When Choosing A Password http://www.networkliquidators.com/article-5-mistakes-you-might-be-making-when-choosing-a-password.asp

[2] ibid
[3] ibid