CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD!
If you have a poor password your website is at risk! Spammers and Phishers constantly try to break into websites that have poor passwords, once in they use your website to host fake websites intended to deceive people into providing private information, or they use your website’s sendmail service to send spam from YOUR email address. The #1 way to protect yourself is YOUR PASSWORD. We encourage all users to choose a difficult password using the following tips listed below.
Passwords aren’t suppose to be easy, they are intended to protect you, so don’t make it easy!
With more and more of our personal data being stored on our computers, giving thoughtful consideration to a password strategy can go a long way in preventing data from being compromised. The following tips are presented as a guide to assist you in password selection.
Password Do’s
- A combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, punctuation and other symbols
- Quick to type, in case anyone is peering over your shoulder
- At least eight characters long – 16432794
- A combination of upper and lower case letters- IE: PaSwoRDexAmPLE
- Use interspersed numbers – IE: use 0 instead of o (zero instead of the letter o)
- Use characters such as !@#$%& – IE: use ! instead of i etc…
- Passwords aren’t suppose to be easy, they are intended to protect you, so don’t make it easy.
Some Password Examples:
- Bad Password: charlie
- Better Password: charl!e
- Bad Password: password
- Better Password: PaSsW0Rd!2
Password Dont’s
- Your first name, last name, or login name, in any form
- Consecutive or repetitive numbers or letters
- Adjacent keyboard letters such as qwerty or asdfghjk
- Common and obvious letter-number replacements (e.g. replace the letter O with number 0)
- Easily guessed personal information such as names and dates of yourself, family members, pets and close acquaintances
- Easily obtained information, such as:
- address
- license plate numbers
- telephone numbers
- credit card or ATM numbers
- Social Security or Social Insurance numbers
- email addresses
- Dictionary words, in any language, forward and backward
- Popular book titles, movie titles, or phrases
- Short passwords
Additional Tips
- Never share your password with anyone. Protect all passwords as you would protect your bank PIN.
- Never store passwords unencrypted on your computer. Password management software is great for managing many passwords, but take great care to protect access to your password database with a strong password, access card or USB key! (Or better, a combination of these).
- Never type your password when anyone is standing nearby.
- Beware of phishing scams.
- Change your password frequently.
- Never use the same password in many places, especially online!
Login NOW and change your password to something hard!
Also see: Phishing Scams
