Friday, March 1, 2013

Password Security

You’re a blogger. You have a password to log into your blog.
You’re probably on facebook too. Another password.
On Twitter. Another password.
You have a bank account (or several). Password(s).
Shopping sites. Passwords.
Your child’s school site. Password.
Work. Passwords.

With so many sites, many people use the same password! According to internet sources, 60-75% of us do this!

This is B-A-D

If a site is compromised, a hacker could be able to get into your other sites as well (possibly even your bank account).

Q: What can you do to protect yourself?

A: Create a [strong password] that is [easy to remember] and [use variations of it] for your logins.

[strong password] = Two uppercase, two lowercase, two specials, two number, 10-14 characters in length.

[easy to remember] = Use a phrase to help you remember it. 
Example --
Phrase: Jimmy graduated on 5-6-10 at Clemson University, SC! 
Password: Jgon5610@CUSC!

[use variations of it] = Switch parts of the phrase around to create other passwords. 
Example --
Original Password: Jgon5610@CUSC!
Variant Passwords: “5610Jgon@CUSC!” and “CUSC!Jgon5610” and “56CUSC!Jgon10” and “@CUSC!5610Jgon” 

So, as your Blogger Friend, I encourage you to create strong passwords and go out and get your sites updated. It will take a little time to do this, but it will take a lot less time than trying to mess with the hassle of of a compromised account!

6 comments:

  1. This is what I do, actually, especially for social media. Any site with my credit card information (Etsy, Amazon, Paypal etc) have their own unique passwords.

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    Replies
    1. Christine, You are ahead of the game! Good girl!

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  2. *hangs head* I need to do this. I have way too many passwords the same. Darn it! Thanks for the advice! :)

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    Replies
    1. Krista, LOL! Never too late to protect yourself. Have fun making new passwords!

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  3. Definitely. Its just remembering them and then where I put them.

    Hugs and chocolate,
    Shelly

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