8 Easy Steps to Total Password Protection

How do I create a good, effective password?

You face an ever-increasing problem - you have so many places to use passwords and you would like to make them difficult to guess. So you came up with a great password and you use the same password everywhere. Unfortunately, you just broke rule one of password protection:

• Rule #1 of Password Protection:

  Use different passwords for each of your logins.
  
  Trying not to break rule one of password protection by using the same password, you choose several passwords that are easy to remember. These passwords include parts of your name and social security number, important dates or your phone number, and names of good books or fictional characters.
  
  Uh oh, you just made mistake number two.
  
  

• Rule #2 of Password Protection:

  Do not use easily guessed or identifiable words for your password.
  
  Never use names of people, places, pets or things. Do not use any word that is in a dictionary. There are programs that use entire dictionaries, both domestic and foreign, to try to break passwords.
  
  Considering the first two rules of password protection, you select several easy passwords that are not in a dictionary or are even real words. You choose "asdf" and "qwerty".
  
  Try again!
  
  

• Rule #3 of Password Protection:

  You should not use a sequence of adjoining keys on the keyboard.
  
  These key sequences are some of the first things that are tried to break your password.
  
  OK, so you just chose several short sequences of random letters and numbers. They are not next to each other on the keyboard, they are not in a dictionary and they don?t have any likeness of your name, phone number or dog's name.
  
  Unfortunately, you are not there yet.
  
  

• Rule #4 of Password Protection:

  A password should be at least 8 characters long and be a mixture of letters, both capital and lowercase, numbers and special characters ($ -. _ #).
  
  You're starting to catch on now, so you select several 10 to 15 character sequences that have upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and a couple of special characters. Unfortunately, your password looks a little hard to remember!
  
  So to make sure you never forget the password, you write them down and file them at your desk. You might even let Windows organize and store your passwords.
  
  

• Rule #5 of Password Protection:

  Never, never, never write down your passwords and keep them near your computer.
  
  Windows doesn't do a good job of password protection. A virus or spyware program can easily gather your passwords from Windows and send them out on the Internet. There are better ways carry out the goal of password protection. Using a password protection vault like WhiteCanyon's MySecurityVault is a simple way to securely store your passwords on your computer and still have them just a mouse click away.
  
  So we are done now, right? Let's review our methods of password protection: Our passwords are over 8 characters with a mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and some special characters. We have a different password for each login. MySecurityVault stores all our passwords for easy but secure access.
  
  Not so fast! Just because a password is hard to break doesn't mean it can't be broken. Eventually every password can be broken.
  
  

• Rule #6 of Password Protection:

  Change your password at least every 6 months, preferably more often.
  
  Here's a brief example of why password protection is so important. Lisa in your group needs access to some files that she normally doesn't need. It will take a few days for the network administrator to assign temporary rights to her login.
  
  You give her your password to allow her the access she needs. She is an honest person and she is in your group. No harm done, right?
  
  

Rule #7 of Password Protection:

If you have given your password to someone else or you think someone may have found out your password, change it immediately!

Never, never, never give your password to someone else! Even if Lisa is honest, if her system is compromised your password could be in jeopardy. What about Joe in the next cubicle?

He may have heard you give your password to Lisa and now has the final piece of his master plan - a password he can use to bring the company crashing down without anyone suspecting is was him.

Let me see if I got this right? Have I followed all the rules of password protection?


• I use different passwords for each of my logins.
  
  
• My passwords are not names, people, pets, etc.
  
  
• My password does not use adjoining keys on the keyboard
  
  
• I chose several passwords longer then 8 characters that use upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and some special characters.
  
  
• I store the passwords in a password vault for easy access.
  
  
• I change it at least every 6 months or if I think that someone may know my password.
  
  
• I never share my password.
  
  
I am safe, right? Almost. Your system can still be compromised while you are logged in.



• Rule #8 of Password Protection:

  Keep your operating system and virus protection up-to-date.
  
  Also, use a personal firewall program to protect your computer from viruses and spyware on the Internet.

Using these 8 simple rules of password protection lets you rest assured that your password is safe and sound.