Quitthedoner – We all know that passwords – yes, I will use that word – are important to us. We use them to identify ourselves, to establish our relationship with other people, to store information about us in the cloud and so on. What you may not realize though, is that passwords can be cracked and your data can be stolen without your knowledge.

Don’t rely on that memorable password for your bank account or online subscription. I know it sounds like a good idea to write this article on a subject which will surely wet your appetite but think again. If you continue reading, you will discover that there is a whole lot more about passwords and web security than you was led to believe.

OK, let’s start from the beginning. What exactly is a password? According toWikipedia, passwords are protocols that users use to identify themselves on the Internet. They can be used as “basic or strong”, strong being the stronger variant, and basic being the easier to remember one.

You remember your honeymoon date? That’s a strong password. Don’t forget yours! Though our love life is private, remember that hacking into other people’s computers, or reading their e-mails, is a lot less fun than watching your own camera videos. So, use a simple password for your own portal. Let’s go with “pokerlounge99“. You may use any language for roseday, but not simple any more; it has to be complex enough that a computer won’t be able to figure it out. Use the first letters of the alphabet, says Will nineteen four ten. Don’t forget to capitalize the letter “o” and the number one. Spoofing, hacking and exposing are activities which require a high level of computer knowledge and skills.

Password cracking – question is, how strong is your password? Many people use simple passwords, like their date of birth, their zip code or their mother’s initials. If a hacker obtains one of these passwords, he or she will be able to view someone’s entire webmail, or break into someone’s computer and take note of all the programs they are using. Some people also use simple passwords, like the letters of the alphabet. They are easy to remember, but still, easy to crack.

It is important to have a password that is easy to remember. However, if you make it too easy for a hacker to work, your security will be compromised. You have to balance the positive effect on your security with the negative effect on your client’s security. Generally, a balance will bring you closer to winning their trust. Your client will be able to trust you more. In turn, you will be able to increase the amount of business you get, because you know how important it is for them to know that you are reliable.

Did you know that malware is now an industry in itself? Computer hardware hackers call it Malware. The Web is full of sites that sell Malware. Each of them wants to gain from the sale. What’s worse is that all of them are working hard to achieve this goal.

There are hundreds of new viruses coming out every day. The number of submissions to these viruses is getting smaller and smaller. As a result, the number of infections is also growing. Make sure you select one of the better known viruses, so you can protect your computer and yourself from this threat.

Make sure you have a good firewall and anti-virus scanner software installed. Again, updates are requested regularly. Make sure they are set to automatically scan for updates. If you do not have such software installed, contact your software provider for instructions.

It is also best to advise people who have security covered up to use a different e-mail address for personal purposes, apart from one used for work. Use a nickname, a nickname which is easier to remember. For example, “FERpapers”.