Protecting Your Online Account

protectNowadays, technology is a part of every aspect of our lives. No matter where you go, a developing country uses an improving technology. We use technology for more than just accessing information. We use it for easy banking, bill paying, filing personal information and sending information to others. It makes our life a lot easier, but at the same time risky.

In order to be safe in using technology we rely on passwords to protect our identities and accounts. One simple “password” is all that it takes to safeguard our personal files against a possible huge headache if it is cracked by a hacker gaining access to it. A weak password is better than no password at all, but still not a good idea. It might deter a hacker for sometimes, but not for too long.

Though we can’t do anything with the hackers, extra security measures can be used to make cracking more difficult. It is by using a complex password. A complex password is critical to online security. It is different from a regular password because it uses more keyboard numbers, symbols and letters. A complex password is a strong password that is much more secure.

In creating a strong complex password you can think of a phrase or a sentence, to use as a clue to your password. Example: ” My female cat Meow has 2 blue eyes” Then the password could be MfcMh2be. This is a strong complex password and it won’t be as hard to remember since it is connected to a sentence. Mix capital letters with numbers. Adding symbols would make it more complex like **_MfcMh2be_** or –_MfcMh2be_-. Avoid using your name or screen name as your password. The length of the password should be from 10-14 letters and symbols. The more symbols the higher the security strength. Do not use passwords that are dictionary words, names, phone numbers and dates even words that are connected to you like your sports and favorites.

Using different passwords in your different accounts is a big thing. This way if someone tried to crack your password, they won’t have the access in your every account. Do not use shared computers to access your accounts. These include computers that are open to the public like internet cafes, kiosks, schools and libraries.
Laptop computers may be less secure as you use them in different places, so make sure your laptop has strong passwords.

Password protection is very important. Most security experts agree that you should never write down your password boldly and keep the information in an easily accessible area. If you must write down your passwords then write it using initials, clues, or drawings then store the information in a very safe place with your other valuables… do not write anything that would make it an obvious password. Another idea is to develop a code that will jar your memory so you can remember the password. This way the password in code won’t make any sense to anyone but you. Always keep your passwords secret and change them ever 30-60 days. Always keep track of your banking accounts and monitor them regularly for changes you did not make.

Article written by Cath author of cathonline.com

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48 Comments

  1. Adapters says:

    sometimes really need to be careful and take responsibility on our own personal information. i think is not a good idea to go login into any personal database in any public computers, you will never know what they have installed, even you did some serious virus/trojan scanning. thats why we uses personal computer; and never think is wasted to spend money on virus protection products, you really do need them.

    good post.

  2. Wartrol says:

    I know I need to change my passords and make them different and more encrypted but I just suck at keeping a record of them all and I end up getting locked out of websites etc…one blog I have just given up on as I can not get back into it, I forgot the password AND email address so I am screwed!!!! But I agree that this is important, I just need to be more organised.

    CHeers

  3. If your password falls into the wrong hands, someone else may reach your account and your identity may be stolen. Internet Banking

  4. Thanks for this well crafted piece of writing about such an important information facing us.

  5. Great tip on how to protect you online account but lets be honest here there are still people who prefer to use a weaker password because they can remember it easily, what percent of the online population do you think uses characters and mixed alpha numeric as password? My guess is not so many.
    Texas Divorce Online´s last blog ..What are the grounds for divorce? My ComLuv Profile

  6. I have acess to my online account but I don’t have the debit card, It’s in the mail, Is there anyway I can buy something online with just this? Paypal takes 3-4 days to process and I sort of need it sooner… Any suggestions?
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  7. used tires says:

    I always try my best to have a strong password. Speaking of weak passwords, I remember one time when this kid in my high school had a very weak password, his was “yankees” apparently it leaked around and alot of people were able to access his account. Needless to say he later got into trouble ;-) because of what others were doing while on his account, lol.

    Till then,

    Jean

  8. I just suck at keeping a record of them all and I end up getting locked out of websites.etc..

  9. When using your credit/debit card online, how can you be sure your account is protected?
    Animal Trainer´s last blog ..Snowshoe hare- rare specie to hunt My ComLuv Profile

  10. Well technology is really very helpful for us but as well as very harmful. We should know about both.

  11. Hi , Really nice way. By using this we can protect our online account. Thanks for the useful information…….

  12. What happened my friend, You did not approve my last comment. Is there any mistake from my side?

  13. I can just see myself mumbling about cats eyes at the checkout.
    pressure washers´s last blog ..Karcher K7.91MD Plus My ComLuv Profile

  14. Very helpful article, security is one thing most of us neglect it terms of online and being secure, you should be commended for spreading the word. Thanks i best update my kaspersky now

  15. Yes, strong password very helpful for protech online account. Don’t use common password, your name & easy password. Use combination of capital latter, numeric, special character for strong password.

  16. Zaldy says:

    as my solution to protect my password, i am using capital letters and some special characters

  17. Lumineers says:

    If you want to protect your online accounts, always watch when clicking external links from e-mails. These can be fraudulent and the scammers can get your login information. Always check the address bar carefully to make sure you are on the right website!
    Lumineers´s last blog ..Lumineers My ComLuv Profile

  18. The reality here is that 99.9% of people are lazy. What that means is that people will use teh same username and password to make life easy. they get bored of trying to think of new ones and most times they are rejected anyway as someone else has used them. What you need is a password generator to make your life easier.

  19. This is so true. Making sure that you have a deceptive password is important. I feel that internet security is becoming better, however, it is still extremely important to have a solid password. I don’t know if I could remember you password about your blue eyed cat, but I like the idea of developing it out of a sentence.

  20. Tiens estore says:

    Thanks for sharing,I will have to change my password now because i have been using public computers when mine has a problem.

  21. You have such great ideas. I know that hackers will always be abreast with their latest technology in hacking but at least you have given me a strong defense in securing my information and protecting my password. I always tend to forget it a lot, so that’s why I tend to use very common ones which increases my security risk of my info getting hacked. Thanks for sharing. Anymore brilliant ideas?
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  22. bill says:

    that say right,account about web is many,everybady have a lot of account,the key’s protect is a important .
    bill´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at My ComLuv Profile

  23. Scammers pretend to be from your bank or financial institution and tell you that there is a problem with your account. They ask for your account details to protect your money, but then use these details to steal your money.

  24. Lumineers says:

    The best way to protect your online accounts is to double check the URL address bar before typing in any sensitive info. If it does not belong to the appropriate site, don’t submit any sensitive info.
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  25. I can understand the importance of having strong passwords. In my line of work many battling spouses have actually been breaking into each other’s email accounts to provide evidence of infidelity and other harmful exchanges. People should really just take the extra few minutes to think of a strong and creative password. In most cases the site you’re creating an account with will indicate if your password is weak.

  26. Mark Andrews says:

    I have strong passwords and lots of them for different services, it gets so annoying to keep track.

    I wanted to use a password manager, but then you only need one password to access my password bank rendering it all pointlessley insecure again , grrrrr.

  27. haber says:

    its very nice and amazing projected.

  28. Bowtrol says:

    A very useful and important post.Thanks for sharing
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  29. DWConsult says:

    In the digital world pass word protection is of great importance, it is also important to have a good strong password, having said that its also very important to remember or keep a record of all the passwords in a safe place.

  30. Acnezine says:

    Thanks a lot for the perfect blog you have put together.Love it!
    Acnezine´s last blog ..Acnezine Warning updated Sat Feb 6 2010 7:11 am CST My ComLuv Profile

  31. Magazine says:

    Useful and helpful. I didn’t have any security problems until now and i hope i will have not. My biggest problems are with domain hosting and the bugs… This is what is getting me downer and downer in google.

  32. Lisa Barnad says:

    Nice tips, I Also want to share an idea for keeping online banking safe and secure with the password format like,
    Kr$n1@tP, would be the best IMHO.

  33. megabali says:

    Nice information. Protecting our information data is so hard to do while it was online.

  34. William says:

    Really nice post as these days online accounts are not that safe as they were previously so things should be done to avoid such things. Your article has many things to deal with applying security to online accounts. Thanks for sharing.
    William´s last blog ..Website Development, Joomla CMS and CRM Solutions for your Small Business My ComLuv Profile

  35. I can attest that secures the online is absolutely crucial. I have had to buy a Google account hacked twice in the last year. This is in spite of the fact that I used a good password and that I had I had excellent security software installed on my PC.

    Thankfully, Google refunded the money which have been used by advertising. But, it has reinforced to me how crucial choosing an excellent password is to your online safety.

    Take care, folks!

    Kind regards, John.
    Vitamin D Deficient´s last blog ..Low vitamin D My ComLuv Profile

  36. Very creative idea with the password. It’s really scary to have your account hacked, especially if it involves money.

  37. As the internet market grows up, everbody who buys and sells online expecially need online account protection. thanks for this post.
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  38. Changing your passwords every month is a good choice to avoid hackers.

  39. DS1052E says:

    thanks for your information. let’s attention our credit.protecting infromation data is very important to everyone.

  40. Great share . I like your all the ideas. But there are lot of peoples who avoid complecated password so as to remember them but that may become harmful to them. I like your idea of changing passwords by every month.

  41. Yes it is really advisable to maintain different passwords for different accounts so that if one gets screwed, the rest of your accounts won’t be affected. Also, placing characters and numbers is a must so it can’t easily be deciphered.

  42. I think, each person should use its own system rather than using other system and the user don’t know about that what kind of software’s he have been using? Someone can easily hack the others account through his PC.

  43. Ya its good to keep the password in encrypted form But these hackers a really disgusting people. Its very very important important to keep the password safe for online banking..

  44. Tasarim says:

    Indeed it’s very useful to have more than one password for each account that bears importance to you. Even thought each one could become harder to remember, it will be worth it.

  45. PPC says:

    Close accounts that have been tampered with. Contact each company by phone and again by certified letter. Make sure the company notifies you in writing that the disputed charges have been erased. Document each conversation and keep all records. …..
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  46. Its definitely very important to protect ones account. A lot of fraudster are going around today.
    Laura Wartrol´s last blog ..Causes of genital wartsMy ComLuv Profile

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