Morpheus Technology Solutions, Inc.

Why you need a safe password and how to create one Do you feel safe when you use the Internet? Are you quite sure when you pay a bill online that no one else wi...ll ever gain access to your credit card information for an unauthorized use or yet, will your information be compromised? You hear stories of people who have been cheated out of hundreds or thousands of dollars because someone gained access to their Internet password, followed by their credit card information and other personal data. Do you believe something like that could never happen to you? Well you better think again because scrupulous people do gain access to the passwords of ordinary people every day; and then go on to use their personal information to do whatever they desire. Therefore, it pays ominously to have the safest password possible. But how does one then create a safe password? Unfortunately though, there are no guarantees that your password will ever be totally safe due to how sophisticated computer hackers are becoming these days. Having the safest password, will however go a long way to decrease your chances of becoming a hacker's victim. Statistics show that white collar crime is the fastest growing crime here in the United States. Take into consideration that hacking tools are now readily available and sold sloppily on the internet and in computer stores everywhere as password recovery tools. Also be aware that there are many gadgets other than mobile phones that are equipped with hidden cameras or cameras. Culprits are ready to take a picture of your password at any opportune time, and even as you enter your ATM pin code in an "open" public area. Once your information is compromised, they will then use it to their advantage. We access many websites with different passwords, which perhaps creates the tendency for many of us to write them down in order to remember them at all. There are also systems which frequently require users to change their passwords, thus causing some to write them down again and again. In addition, when situations whereby the systems policies force the use of longer and more complex passwords are encountered, the sheer urge to write down the passwords is relatively increased. This behavior in general must be discouraged, because such paper trail may ultimately result in the compromise of passwords records and provide the "bad guys" more chances to steal important records. There are many stories around on the Internet about people who have been cheated out of a lot of money because their passwords were compromised. There are also many other stories about hackers who stole people’s passwords and broke into their email accounts, then sent viruses or Trojan horses to everyone on their e-mail lists. You can therefore see why a safe password is vital. What mistakes do people make when choosing passwords? According to experts, one of the most common mistakes people make is to use their first or last name as a username or password, or worse yet, as both. It wouldn’t take a brilliant computer expert or a hacker any time to gain access to such a password. People also make mistakes when choosing a password by using the names of their pets or spouses. In which case, people who know you won’t have trouble figuring out your password if you do that. Don’t use the names backward either or use them, followed by a single number. Such passwords are just too easy to figure out. You also don’t want your password to be too short or simple; a hacker will be able to figure such a word out easily. You may think you are using a good password by using words from computer games, but you are not. Such words are better known than you think. It is also bad to use the name of your favorite sports team as a password, favorite athlete, favorite character from a movie or book, or the name of a famous scientist. Passwords created from such items are much easier for a hacker to figure out than you might expect. Other common methods which people use to create passwords that are bad as well, according to experts, include: using the name of their boss; the name of a friend or co-worker; a license plate number; any birthday; the name of the school one graduated from; any name on a personal computer, or a password with all the same letters. Under no circumstances, according to experts, should one ever use the same word for a username and password. Hackers call that a Smoking Joe. You should not write down your password. It is better to memorize it. If you must write it down, do not write down the fact that it is your password. You should not include it in any computer document or e-mail it to anyone. The characteristics of a good password include having upper and lower case letters. It is helpful to also have numbers, or punctuation marks or special characters as well. It should at least be around seven or eight characters long, the longer the better. According to experts, another good trick to create a good password is to combine two words with a character or number, such as chicken&space, range9flyer, or meteor%cave. You could also use an acronym that only you know, such as I love my wife and my dog, but I hate my job. In such example, that could become a password of: Ivwfdghj or Ivwfdghj7. While there are plenty of hackers out there, there are still things you can do to protect yourself. Starting with the basics of safe-password creation techniques is the least we all can do.

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