More & more we’re finding the amount of technology can sometimes lead to exposing our data. Keeping safe online is vital & if we don’t take some simple steps we can become vulnerable. Careless actions can at the very least end up with the odd comment on your Facebook Profile from your friends or identity theft if we become complacent.
Here’s a few simple hints & tips to step up your password protection:
1. Don’t use the same password & email account for everything you log into online.
2. Lots of sites now tell you if your password is ‘Weak’ @Moderate’ or ‘Strong’. Always try to select a strong password. Passwords with a minimum of eight characters, upper and lower case letters and numbers are much harder to break.
3. Don’t use simple words or something located around your desk area such as ‘Telephone’ or ‘Calendar’. This handy tool – Password Generator from Norton will help to generate passwords. You don’t need to download anything, just simply click the orange box on the right.
4. Use memorable security questions & answers wherever possible. Try to use good strong questions/answers that people wouldn’t know. For example What’s your earliest memory? Partner’s middle name? How many places have you lived? We wouldn’t recommend you use the more common questions such as Mother’s maiden name. It doesn’t take a genius to find this out especially if you have been complacent with your social media settings & all and sundry can see this.
5. Some recommend you change your passwords regularly but then we all have so many things to long into these days it’s have to keep track. Yes change your passwords but within reason. Changing too often can lead to you forgetting which password you’re set and then being locked out of some sites such as Twitter (especially if you can’t remember which email address you’ve used for it either).
6. Sounds like common sense but just to be sure don’t log into webmail on a public computer or unsecured wifi network. This can leave your email account very vulnerable.
7. Watch out for emails that ask for your log in details especially ones asking for banking details, card details etc. You would typically get an email saying your account has been compromised. Check the email address from the sender & the URL it’s coming from that’s a dead give away that it’s a bogus message.
8. Best way to stop some of this rubbish even getting into your inbox is to have anti-virus installed & firewall protection & keep it up to date. There’s lots of good free or inexpensive software out there to choose from.
9. And if you really want to be secure, enable two-factor authenticity if it’s available. Dropbox the cloud based storage site has this option available as do other cloud computing sites. Facebook also has an option called Login Approvals which can be found under the Security Settings.
10. For some excellent tips & resources on keeping safe online check out the UK Safer Internet Centre – www.saferinternet.org.uk
That’s it from us but do you have any great tips to add to this list?
Do you have a story to tell about how you manage to keep your passwords protected & safe online?
We’d love to hear your thoughts…….over to you….
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