How to make your password hacker-proof
Yahoo! News - Passwords are the first line of defence in warding off online criminals. As web security breaches become more common, your online safety is being put at risk if your password is weak.
Figures from GetSafeOnline.org, a joint initiative between the Government and the Serious Organised Crime Agency, showed that 15% of internet users fell victim to hackers in 2010. Managing director Tony Neate warned: "A strong password is as critical to online security as having anti-virus software. Most web users choose weak combinations that are easy to guess - such as their favourite football team - and then recycle them for numerous different websites."
To protect yourself simply and effectively, here are six tips to outsmart hackers by creating stronger passwords.
1) Never use personal information
Setting personal information as your password means that you are giving hackers an easy ride by making it too obvious. Be aware of using easy-to-crack passwords, like your own name, birth date, a pet's name, mother's maiden name or your favourite football team. Every word in the dictionary, names, and dates are the first things hackers try when trying to break a password. If you find it difficult to remember passwords which don't contain a phrase or word in that is memorable to you, use it as a base password instead. For example, if you wanted to use 'Guns N' Roses' song, 'Sweet Child of Mine', your base password might be 'SCOM'. Remembering the password is a matter of singing yourself the song. Add on a few numbers and symbols too for extra protection.
Try not to use a dictionary password. This will help reduce the threat of your password being found by 'dictionary' based tools which some attackers use.
2) Use different passwords for different accounts
The problem with using the same password for every site you use, whether it is for online banking or gaining access to a social network, is that if the password is compromised and someone finds out which websites you use the most, the rest of your identity is at risk.
GetSafeOnline.org advises Internet users to use different passwords for websites, especially banking and financial ones. This reduces the threat of anyone using the same password to log into all of your services/accounts. According to Government statistics, 17% of people still use the same password for every site they access.
3) Use random number sequences
Passwords should ideally contain a random combination of numbers alongside your chosen base letters and special characters. Media firm, Gawker, whose million-strong member's database was hacked into in December, revealed their user's most careless password habits. Those who were the most at risk of falling victim to hackers stupidly used the combination '123456' as their password.
4) Use mixed character types
Always use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters like exclamation marks, hashes and asterisks where possible. 'Bloomberg Businessweek' recently compiled data from a variety of cyber security experts, showing how long it takes for a hacker to randomly guess a password. The data found that any six character password consisting solely of letters can be cracked in just ten minutes but a nine character password complete with letters, uppercase, numbers and symbols will take 44,530 years to crack.
GetSafeOnline.org also advised web users to substitute letters with numbers, e.g. 'F1ow3r' instead of 'flower'.
5) Update your password regularly
IT research and advisory company, Gartner inc. recommends that a user should change their password every 90 days to keep hackers guessing. Some banking and online trading sites give their users the opportunity to change their password at regular intervals.
6) Use long passwords
The more characters in a password, the harder it is to crack. Your password should ideally be between eight and 16 characters in length. Having at least eight characters is a good compromise between safety and usability.
More tips and information on Internet security can be found at GetSafeOnline.
Written by Gaby Leslie
--
KARUNAKARAN
www.keralites.net |
__._,_.___
No comments:
Post a Comment