How To Protect Yourself From Password Hackers

More often than not, people use a single password to every online account they have. May it be their online banking account, e-mail, social networking sites, and those websites that requires them to sign up. The reason behind this is that, many people doesn’t have the time to memorize every password on different internet services they subscribe themselves in to. The result, if one of their account has been compromised, chances are, the hacker gains access to all their online accounts on the Internet.

People often use passwords that are familiar to them, like:

• Their child, partner, and pet name subsequently followed by a number or two. (Josh01)
• The word “password”.
• 12345 or 1234
• Their school student number.
• Date of birth, birth place, or the hospital where they were born.

Chances are, these kinds of passwords won’t give them sufficient protection from people who spends most of their day trying to guess people’s passwords.

Another serious consideration is the security questions that online e-mail service providers use to help their clients retrieve their pass code or help them gain access to their account if they forget their password.

Yahoo and Gmail often use default questions, such as:

• Your birth place
• Your favorite author
• Your student number
• Your favorite uncle
• Your oldest cousin
• The middle name of your mother
• Your bank account number
• Your social security number
• Your favorite food
• Your first kiss
• The place where you took your wife for your first date
• Your pet’s name

There will always be people out there who knows the answers to these questions, and that will make the user vulnerable to attacks.

Hackers, also develop a lot of tools to gain access to people’s account online. They don’t usually crack one personal account at a time, they simultaneously crack hundreds, or if not, thousands of account each day.

Recently, I tried to open my old Gmail account but Gmail servers won’t accept my password. I clicked the “I can’t access my account” on Gmail’s homepage and I entered the answer the to my security  question. When I finally gain access to my account, I checked my IP log-ins and found this:As you can see, my account has been accessed by different IP addresses for three consecutive days from different parts of the world. Good thing I have already transferred all my vital data to a more secure location online.

 

Notice the substantial difference in using a single special character (&$*&%) or capitalizing a letter on your password.

Adding just one special character to your password will give your more protection than using words from the dictionary.

Password Tips:

• Throw in a capital letter to your password.
  • Ex: passWorD
• Some numbers won’t hurt.
  • Ex: passWorD681
• Special characters will give it a nice touch.
  • Ex: %passWorD681
• Use different password to every important online accounts you have, such as e-mails, bank account information, or to your online storage service.
• Since it is very difficult to remember random passwords, I recommend using Roboform. It is a free software that allows your to store your passwords in an encrypted format and secure them using a master password.

Security Question Tips:

Having a strong password is not enough. You also need to have a smart way to piss off those password guessers and online intruders by giving them a hard time guessing the answer your security questions.

You will often find security questions on e-mail services such as yahoo, gmail, and msn. This allows the users to gain access to their online account if ever they have forgotten their password.

• Lie
  • Ex: Who is your favorite author?
    • Carrie Underwood
• Conceptualize your own security question.
  • Ex: What is the sum of my Social Security Number, College Student Number, My Car’s Plate Number, My License Number, and my Vat Registry Number from 7-Eleven receipt when I purchased a bottle of coke last October 26, 1999?
    • 5986598547584578 – Let’s see if these sneaky bastards can guess this one.
• Use your mobile phone for password recovery.
  • Google uses a technology that uses your mobile phone number to send a password reset code that will allow you to access your online account if ever you forgot your E-mail password.

Bonus Tip:

You have a responsibility to protect yourself when you use the Internet. Be smart, and use your common sense. That, perhaps is the ultimate tip I can give.

Happy surfing!