The majority of us are in the habit of committing two major online security no-nos.
- We use the same password for different websites
- We rarely change those passwords.
These two habits can leave you vulnerable to privacy intrusions and hacking attempts.
Consider this, a large majority of websites use your email address as your username. If one of the websites where you have an account is ever hacked and your password is stolen, those same hackers can now use your username and password information to log into other frequently used sites such as banks, social media sites, online mail, and more. These same hackers can even use your illegally obtained information to steal your identity.
There are a few simple ways to try and overcome this headache.
Create strong passwords.
Short of a hacker infiltrating an online database that stores your password, a strong password is crucial in the fight against online theft and privacy intrusions.
What makes a strong password?
- Use a combination of letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers.
- Your password should contain both upper and lowercase letters.
- Whenever possible, use at least 8 characters or more.
- The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better.
Use different passwords on different sites.
Yes, it can be a pain to remember all of those passwords, but it really does increase your online security. However, if a different password for every site is really more than you can handle, consider creating a variety of strong passwords and alternating them between different sites. Then if a hacker ever gets access to one password, he can't automatically access all of your accounts.
You can also try using a password manager program like Password Safe, RoboForms, or LastPass to help you manage your different passwords for different sites. Programs such as this allow you to utilise more complex passwords because it's your computer that will remember them, rather than you.
Change your passwords.
Changing your password will increase your personal security. That way if someone illegally obtains the information needed to access your account and you change your password, they no longer have access. So for higher risk websites such as your online banking site you should consider changing your password on a regular basis. As to what is considered a high risk site verses a low risk site only you can be the judge of that.
Prolateral can help you
If you think you have been affected by this problem and need help then give us a call. Prolateral Consulting is an IT Security company specialising in the protection of your computer systems. Prolateral is solution partners with Symantec and eSet to help provide you the best of breed solution that is tailored to fit your business requirement. Together with proFilter, Prolateral's first rate anti-spam and anti-phishing email filter (as known as spam email filtering) we have the complete solution.
About Prolateral
Prolateral Consulting is in business to put your organisation back in control of your own Information Technology, specialising in information and messaging security, computer forensic services, and disaster recovery planing.
Contact Info
Prolateral Consulting Ltd
Luton, Bedfordshire, UK
Tel : +44 (0) 8450 763760
Email :
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