Keeping Passwords Secure

As the web has evolved, so have the methods of collecting personal information. A large number of websites require visitors to register to gain access or participate. While the need for registration is understandable, tracking user names and passwords can be burdensome. Consider using software to store your passwords, in a safe accessible manner.

Most websites have privacy policies, but the value of privacy statements are only as honorable as the people behind the websites. Here are suggestions for keeping passwords and your information secure:

  • change your password frequently

  • never share your password with anyone

  • try to choose a password so it doesn't need to be written down, but not so obvious others would easily guess the password

  • be sure your password is at least 6 characters

  • don't use a password containing all the same characters

  • don't send your password via email or provide it over the phone

  • don't use pet, family or friend names

  • don't use your telephone number, zip code or address

  • use a different password for each account

  • don't use user name

  • deactivate accounts for terminated employees

  • don't allow shared accounts

  • password contains upper, lowercase letters, non-letter characters and numbers

    Resources

    Password Software - http://www.password-software.com

    Passwords are not foolproof. Do not rely on a password alone to protect sensitive information. Monitor accounts closely to ensure that security is not breached.

    About The Author

    Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.small-business-software.net

    In The News:

    Yahoo! News: Top Stories

    Amy Vollmar, 43, from Bowling Green, Ohio, a worker for Chrysler for the past 24 years, listens during a Chrysler rally at the Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008.    (AP Photo/Madalyn Ruggiero)AP - The United Auto Workers said Wednesday it is willing to change its contracts with U.S. automakers and accept delayed payments of billions of dollars to a union-run health care trust to do its part to help the struggling companies secure $34 billion in government loans.



    A bomb disposal squad officer, center, takes a suspicious box to the police station after diffusing a bomb at Chhatrapati Shivaji train station in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. Police on Wednesday discovered leftover explosives hidden in a bag in Mumbai's main train station, a stunning new example of botched security after the deadly rampage that left the government open to accusations it missed warnings and bungled its response. (AP Photo)AP - Police searching a mound of baggage abandoned amid the carnage of the attack on Mumbai's main train station found two bombs Wednesday — nearly a week after they were left there by gunmen — in a stunning new example of the botched security that has become a major issue in India since the three-day siege.



    In this Dec. 1, 2008 file photo, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, center, waves to a crowd during a campaign stop for Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga,  in Savannah, Ga.  Palin has added to her financial disclosure forms two free trips that she took nearly two years ago but failed to report.   (AP Photo/Stephen Morton, File)AP - Gov. Sarah Palin has added to her financial disclosure forms two free trips that she took nearly two years ago but failed to report. Palin, who was Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, made the disclosures last month, but after Election Day when she and McCain lost to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The trips were first revealed in a story by The Associated Press in October.



    Rev. Edwin Bacon, of All Saints Episcopal Church, delivers a sermon in support of same sex marriages Sunday, Nov. 9, 2008, in Pasadena, Calif. Demonstrations on Saturday to protest passage of an anti-gay marriage ballot initiative were the largest of several marches that followed Tuesday's passage of Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and overturning the state Supreme Court decision that legalized such unions in May. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)AP - Theological conservatives upset by liberal views of U.S. Episcopalians and Canadian Anglicans formed a rival North American province Wednesday, in a long-developing rift over the Bible that erupted when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop.



    Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.,  gestures as he speaks during  an election-night party Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 in Atlanta. Chambliss defeated Democrat Jim Martin in a run off. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)AP - A double digit win in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff could make Saxby Chambliss a star in a Republican party hungry for fresh leadership.



    This undated photo provided by the Tracy Police Department shows Caren Ramirez. Police were seeking Ramirez on suspicion of participating in alleged abuse against her 17 year-old nephew who showed up Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 at a northern California gym with a chain locked to his ankle. (AP Photo/Tracy Police Department)AP - The aunt and one-time guardian of an emaciated and shackled 17-year-old has been arrested, as police tried to determine how she knew the couple accused of holding the teen against his will for nearly a year. Caren Ramirez was arrested Tuesday in Berkeley, a day after the boy walked into a gym and begged managers to hide him. He was covered in soot, had a chain on his foot and was wearing only boxer briefs.



    This X-ray image provided by NASA, and captured by the German ROSAT satellite in the 1990s, shows the remnant of a supernova that was observed in 1572 by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. A new study explores the nature of that star explosion. (AP Photo/NASA)AP - More than 400 years after Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe challenged established wisdom about the heavens by analyzing a strange new light in the sky, scientists say they've finally nailed down just what he saw.



    This undated file photo provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows Jennifer Hudson's estranged brother-in-law William Balfour. Balfour has been arrested Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 in Illinois in the deaths of the singer's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. (AP Photo/Illinois Department of Corrections)AP - A prosecutor alleged Wednesday that Jennifer Hudson's brother-in-law killed three family members because he was angry his estranged wife — the singer's sister — was dating another man.



    AP - The one that didn't get away held an unlikely surprise for a Texas man. The blue-stoned class ring of Joe Richardson, engraved with his name, turned up inside an 8-pound bass 21 years after he lost it while fishing on Lake Sam Rayburn.

    In this Aug. 31, 2008, file photo, Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia walks back to the dugout during a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox have agreed to terms with the 2008 AL Most Valuable Player on a six-year contract, the team announced on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)AP - Dustin Pedroia has a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP, a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger and, of course, a World Series ring. And now he's got the big-bucks contract befitting one of the most decorated young players in baseball. The Red Sox second baseman, who earned $457,000 last season while winning the AL Most Valuable Player award, agreed Wednesday to a $40.5 million, six-year contract that could keep in Boston through at least 2014.



    New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson (R) listens as US President-elect Barack Obama speaks to the media after introducing Richardson as his nominee for U.S. commerce secretary during a news conference in Chicago December 3, 2008. (UNITED STATES) (Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama said on Wednesday struggling automakers have put forward a "more serious" restructuring proposal to Congress but withheld judgment on the plans until hearings are held.



    Trading specialists work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, December 3, 2008. (Chip East/Reuters)Reuters - Record declines in the vast U.S. and European service sectors and more grim U.S. employment news on Wednesday sparked fear of an economic "free fall," setting up another round of aggressive interest rate cuts.



    Students of the Pakistani Islamist party Jammat-e-Islami chant anti-Indian slogans during a protest against the Indian government's claims that Pakistan-based militants were behind the Mumbai attacks, during a rally in Islamabad, December 3, 2008. (Mian Khursheed/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Pakistan to cooperate fully in the probe into the Mumbai attacks but she also warned India against any action that could stoke regional conflict.



    Chrysler assembly worker Leroy Feltz works on a 2009 Jeep Wrangler at the Toledo Supplier Park Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio December 3, 2008. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)Reuters - All options were on the table on Wednesday as congressional committees scrutinized auto company restructuring proposals and an urgent appeal for $34 billion in aid ahead of make-or-break hearings.



    The U.S. Senate and Congressional Democratic leadership attends a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee/Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee election watch party in Washington November 4, 2008. From L-R are: DSCC Chairman Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), DCCC Chairman Christopher Van Hollen (D-MD), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). (Larry Downing/Reuters)Reuters - Senate Democrats will be able to do plenty over the next two years -- despite falling just short of their goal of winning a majority big enough to end Republican procedural roadblocks.



    Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaks at a news conference at the Treasury Department in Washington, November 25, 2008. (Jason Reed/Reuters)Reuters - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is weighing whether to ask Congress for the remaining $350 billion of the financial bailout fund, with White House aides approaching President-elect Barack Obama's transition team about the idea, an Obama aide said on Wednesday.



    Reuters - Imprisoned former WorldCom Inc chief Bernard Ebbers has joined the list of high-profile corporate defendants petitioning for clemency in the final days of President George W. Bush's term in office.

    A U.S soldier stands guard during a graduation ceremony at Al-Furat Iraqi Police Training Center in Baghdad December 2, 2008. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)Reuters - A string of departures by the U.S. military's allies in Iraq is turning into an exodus as violence subsides and the end of a U.N. mandate permitting their deployment to the country approaches.



    A map locating the main terrorist attacks in Mumbai. India on Wednesday warned that all options were open in dealing with Pakistan after last week's attacks on Mumbai, as the United States pressured Islamabad to show urgent cooperation with the probe.(AFP/Graphic)AFP - India on Wednesday warned that all options were open in dealing with Pakistan after last week's attacks on Mumbai, as the United States pressured Islamabad to show urgent cooperation with the probe.



    Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg speaks in Oslo City Hall during the signing of a treaty banning cluster bombs. Norway -- which played a key role in hammering out the worldwide ban on using, producing, transferring and stockpiling cluster munitions -- was the first country to sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions.(AFP/Scanpix/Lise Aserud)AFP - Some 100 nations put their names Wednesday to a landmark treaty banning cluster bombs, amid calls for major arms producers such as China, Russia and the United States to join them.




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