Ah security
Mar. 8th, 2018 08:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charisstomaStolen from one of those places that takes money, who is one of those 'asking for a friend' and helps keep me safe or pays me back. They've treated me well.
You’ve probably seen this phrase a bunch over the past few years: “Your password must contain one letter, one number, one symbol, a never-ending math equation and your DNA.”
The key to more secure passwords — and more memorable ones — is to focus on length rather than complexity. Push out your password past 12 to 15 characters to outsmart cybercriminals who use automated programs to cycle through passwords. The longer the password, the harder it will be for them to crack the code.
But make it easy by using a line from a favorite song or a quote from a movie. You can create a sentence about your family that will make you smile every time you use it.
“Attackers have automated programs that combine dictionary words until they find the right pattern,”
So mix in a number or a punctuation mark. “The key is to put it in a nonobvious place,” he says. “A period at the end of a sentence? Probably not a good idea. But a period between the first and second words is much better.”
Four More Sanity-Saving Tips for Passwords That Are Hard to Hack
1. Don’t count on special characters to save you. You can throw a few hash marks or an exclamation point onto the end of a short password, but it’s still a short password, and that makes it easy to crack. Bottom line: A short but complex password isn’t as safe as a long one.
2. There’s safety in variety. Don’t use the same password for all your accounts unless you want that jerk who broke into your Facebook to have access to your bank account, too.
3. Set up a password safe. Free software programs such as Password Safe (Windows only) let users store all their passwords inside a single encrypted site protected by a master security code.
4. Two factors are better than one. For an extra layer of protection, use two-factor authentication if it’s available, which requires a code in addition to a password to access your accounts. A mobile app like VIP Access or Google Authenticator generates a unique code every 30 seconds. You have to enter the code when you log in to an account, so even if a crook has your password, he can’t access your account without the code.
You’ve probably seen this phrase a bunch over the past few years: “Your password must contain one letter, one number, one symbol, a never-ending math equation and your DNA.”
The key to more secure passwords — and more memorable ones — is to focus on length rather than complexity. Push out your password past 12 to 15 characters to outsmart cybercriminals who use automated programs to cycle through passwords. The longer the password, the harder it will be for them to crack the code.
But make it easy by using a line from a favorite song or a quote from a movie. You can create a sentence about your family that will make you smile every time you use it.
“Attackers have automated programs that combine dictionary words until they find the right pattern,”
So mix in a number or a punctuation mark. “The key is to put it in a nonobvious place,” he says. “A period at the end of a sentence? Probably not a good idea. But a period between the first and second words is much better.”
Four More Sanity-Saving Tips for Passwords That Are Hard to Hack
1. Don’t count on special characters to save you. You can throw a few hash marks or an exclamation point onto the end of a short password, but it’s still a short password, and that makes it easy to crack. Bottom line: A short but complex password isn’t as safe as a long one.
2. There’s safety in variety. Don’t use the same password for all your accounts unless you want that jerk who broke into your Facebook to have access to your bank account, too.
3. Set up a password safe. Free software programs such as Password Safe (Windows only) let users store all their passwords inside a single encrypted site protected by a master security code.
4. Two factors are better than one. For an extra layer of protection, use two-factor authentication if it’s available, which requires a code in addition to a password to access your accounts. A mobile app like VIP Access or Google Authenticator generates a unique code every 30 seconds. You have to enter the code when you log in to an account, so even if a crook has your password, he can’t access your account without the code.
