Almost everything you do on the Internet requires the use of passwords.  User ID’s and passwords are supposed to protect us from having our bank accounts etc. cleaned out while we are sleeping.  Yet most people find themselves frustratingly try to manage dozens of passwords, or worse, use the same one for everything.

The use of effective passwords are a fact of online life that you can choose to ignore at your peril.  Just the other day someone was relaying to me that a mutual friend of ours had his company Website hacked into so many times that Google has blacklisted it.  This means if you do a search under his or his company’s name, the search results actually recommend staying away from it because it is not safe!  BTW, the user ID he used was “admin” and his password was unsurprisingly not much better.

Password Etiquette For Maximum Safety

The more you use the Net, the more passwords you will need to use. There are caveats to follow when creating and using passwords so they don’t fall into the wrong hands:

• Don’t use anything that resembles a real word, name, date, or public information about you (i.e. address, date of birth, social security number, etc.).
   
• Use a combination of at least 8 upper and lower case characters (passwords typically are case sensitive), special characters (i.e. /!@&*], etc.), and numbers.
   
• Don’t leave the password any place near your computer or where it could be found easily.
   
• Make sure you can remember it and keep it in a hidden spot in case you forget it.
   
• Do not give it to anyone or put it in any documents available to other people.
   
• Don’t let anyone look over your shoulder when you type it in (a.k.a. “shoulder surfing”).
   
• Avoid using the same password for different kinds of services.
   
• Change critical passwords often.

At this point you are probably thinking “Awesome, now how am I supposed to remember dozens of unbreakable passwords?!”  Actually, you’re not…

Managing Passwords the Easy Way

As of this writing I have over 630 User ID and Password pairs.  Every one of the passwords meets the criteria above and it takes no time at all for me to find and enter any of them when needed, and I only need to remember one master password to access all the others.  The key is to use a password managment tool and there are several very good available.  Password Agent is the one I use and it sits on my computer task bar ready for action —which it sees a lot of because I use it probably 20 – 30 times each day.  To use it I do a nearly instant search for the Website or program that needs password access, double click on the entry and it takes me to the Website in question and then I just hit a special key combination on my keyboard to enter the security cedentials and I’m in.  Password Agent will also generate new passwords for me at random of nearly any length and character combination.

Another program that I’ve heard works well also is RoboForm.  This is a browser-based application that appears to make the process of entering Web-based form information (including User ID’s and passwords) a snap, even easier than Password Agent.  However, since it is strictly Web-based, it cannot help me with keeping and entering non-Web based security information.  I suggest checking both out and see what works best for your needs.  Almost all password management solutions however, require that you use a “master” password that gives you access to all the others.  Obviously, it is critical to your security to use a master password that is very hard to break, yet one you will never forget or have to write down…

Creating Hard to Break / Easy to Remember Passwords

The trick to creating a password that really does its job (i.e. protect you!) yet is easily remembered, is to use acronyms. Use the first character in each word of a sentence or phrase that you would never forget. And just to really confuse the would-be hackers of the world, begin and end your acronym based password with special characters. For example:

(And no, I no longer use this as a password )

Living with passwords doesn’t have to be hell-on-earth.  Trying to use the Internet without a way to use them effectively will almost certainly end up being that way.

DISCLAIMER: Always investigate any third-party products or services to your satisfaction prior to using them.  RUSSER Communications, its officers, staff and consultants do not receive any compensation whatsoever from third party vendors and are not responsible for any damage or liability you may incur as a result of using products or services mentioned herein.  If you do not agree to these terms do not use the product or service mentioned.