Let's talk about passwords!

Who's the hot girl?

 

Kaley Cuoco from Big Bang Theory & others.

http://www.thehotdesktop.com/actresses/kaley-cuoco-2

 

I've seen the show, she's kind of... forgettable in there.

 

She's still sexy though. One thing about passwords that I sometimes forget about is always included symbols, letters, and numbers. The only people that will figure out your passwords is one that you give it to.

 

I thought about doing this before but I kind of lost my password one time when I went out. Luckily, I didn't experience hacking of any sort. I also tried putting my usernames and passwords on a text file but a neighbor of mine looked at it. Good thing I caught him. I changed my passwords afterwards. All I do now is to have a single password for all my internet accounts. Only the username changes and I save my username on a text file.

 

I use this tool called my memory I use similar passwords for all of my accounts. Similar in terms that a few numbers or letter vary from one password to another. Sometimes it takes a few attempts to know what password I was using but there are always ways to reset as long as you have access to your primary e-mail address.

 

I use LastPass too. I like it because you don't have to worry about accidentally downloading a file that is binded with a password stealer. LastPass keeps all of your passwords in an online database.
Also, I like using patterns on the keyboard to make passwords. It makes them look encrypted. Like if I wanted to make a smiley with it's tongue out, I would use something like

junmki87o

You could also add some special characters in there. You could also use mnemonics. Like you could use something like

MfsiPMATSbPF

(My favorite song is Point Me At The Sky by Pink Floyd)

 

I couldn't memorize passwords like this in my head:
sS#$!ka)!atfa

 

I read that as "madafaka", so thay would be my way to remember it

There's an even better way to avoid getting hacked. Use characters that are not in the English language, like ñ, é, ê, or any Chinese symbol. F*ck hackers.

 

I use a few default passwords that I use for various related sites. So I use the same password for all the gaming-related sites that I'm on. Then I use a standard rule for having variations of those. For example, I might have a number in the middle of the password and I'll know that if I can't get into a site, then it's because I've used one of those variations.

 

Ya, I got hacked once before. Only because I had "remote access" open on my laptop, and the firewall off. Never again. That was so brutal to bear. Hacker just shut down my laptop, and took everything. I had to start it over from scratch. Been much secured since then.

 

Just some tips that I posted a while back to help our members remain secure.

Obviously password safety is only one of the ways to remain secure.

Good AV programs and anti-root kit programs are also needed.


One area to look at is our password security. Obviously we would not use insecure passwords like "123456' or "qwerty" etc.
A "safe" password is usually at least 15 characters long,

A 15-character password composed only of random letters and numbers is about 33,000 times stronger than an 8-character password composed of characters from the entire keyboard.

The safest way is to use a combination of letters AND numbers.

One of the best ways to help protect ourselves is to REGULARLY change our passwords.

Contrary to popular opinion it is ok to write down our passwords so we can remember them, PROVIDED this information is kept safe and secure.

Instructions on how to change the password in windows XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true

Instructions on how to change the password in windows VISTA:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...ndows-password

Instructions on how to change the password in Windows 7:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...ndows-password

 

I just a password for the email / facebook / etc and use a password much more enhanced for more important things.

 

I have three passwords (and a few variations of them) that I use across all the sites I visit. For most sites I use just one but for sites with sensible data I use the others. For sites like Gmail, Ebay, Paypal and Amazon I use the "strong" passwords. For everything else I use the easier to remember one.

 

I've been looking for something to help me manage passwords. I'll give Keepass a look (I like that it's open source, too).

For non-critical issues, I always use a complex password template that makes password creation almost instant. The only thing you really have to remember is the structure of the template.

 

Someone recommended me to try http://www.truecrypt.org/, but I haven't got around to it yet. Anyone have any experience with it?

 

I use it all the time -- it's not a password management tool. LastPass, I've found is the best.

 

Basically for sensitive sites like PayPal, bank accounts and e-mails, I write then down in a note book. The passwords themselves are complex and full of characters and I believe that they are almost impossible to crack, . Then for my other sites that are not so important, I usually use a single password with little variations in them, and I make sure that I change them on a regular basis, say once every 3 - 4months. This is one the reasons why my accounts have never been hacked

 

I normally just write them down on a piece of paper, on notepad and save them in a safe place and use different passwords for everything that way if one account gets hacked i'm fine to carry on.

 

That's the key right there, really. I keep track of all my passwords in a notebook. Every level of security has a different password. Even with well known websites that we visit on a regular basis, may it be our bank, socializing on Facebook, or even just a website where we go for paying for games. If we care about our personal affairs, all passwords must be different. I actually had an email hacked into about a month ago. All of it matters. It's not just the websites that we create ourselves.