Securing Your Passwords & Security Questions

So, Mark & Libby already heard what I have to say on this subject, but I have been thinking a lot about it lately. One of Clayton's professors works trying to prevent hackers and so Clayton and I have been talking about all the different programs hackers use to get your information. This has made me really interested in the subject and I have done a fair deal of research.

Here are a few things I've learned:

You should never use a dictionary word. Hackers use programs that scan through all the words in the dictionary. Even if it is really random, they can find it.

You are supposed to change your passwords twice a year. That's a lot, but its suggested.

You should never use anything in your name, birthday, email, etc. as your password. That seems obvious but it is really common.

You should use capital & lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Numbers shouldn't be just at the end, but in the middle.

You shouldn't have the same password for many accounts. This makes it easier for hackers to get all your info fast.

Here is a link to an interesting video about one idea of how to make memorable but secure passwords. :)

You can also download password organizers that save all of your passwords in a safe space. I haven't read about them much though, so I can't tell you much.

Now to the even MORE interesting stuff.

Security questions are usually the way hackers get into your accounts. With blogs and social networking websites, hackers find it easy to answer questions like "what was my elementary school mascot" or "What is my mother's maiden name." I actually had "what is my sister's name" thinking that was a good one. WRONG!!! All someone needs to do is search you on Facebook and they have it.

goodsecurityquestions.com gives some helpful guidelines.


I hope this was helpful!