Keep hackers out of your computer and websites

Keep hackers out of your computer and websites

If juggling a ridiculous amount of passwords for your various online
accounts is driving you crazy, you're not alone. For security reasons,
passwords are required for everything from email to social media
networks to online banking and shopping accounts, and even logging into
your computer. But if you aren't careful about how you choose your
passwords or where you store them, the very thing that's supposed to
your make personal information secure might actually be putting it in
jeopardy.
How to choose a secure password
Using the same password for multiple accounts or choosing a word or
phrase that's easy to remember (such as a house address, birthday,
last name) is very common—and a big mistake. Those kinds of passwords
happen to be the easiest for hackers to crack. There are several
things to consider when creating a password that will keep your
information safe.
*. Choose passwords that use a variety of letters, figures, symbols
and cases. Try putting your hands on the keyboard and just typing
randomly—a gibberish password can be very secure.
*. Use similar-looking substitutions to create alternatives for words
that you remember easily. For example, the number zero can replace
the letter "O" and the dollar sign can replace the letter "S."
*. Phonetic replacements are also a good idea (e.g., "Luv2Laf" for
"Love to Laugh").
*. Avoid including personal information, words or acronyms that can be
found in the dictionary, phrases that can be tied back to you,
sequential numbers and repeating characters.
*. Many websites will let you know whether your password is safe when
you're in the process of choosing it. Pay attention to that, and if
the site indicates that your password is not secure, pick a different
one. To keep your passwords safe, never send them to anyone via
email—even yourself. It's also recommended that you change passwords
every 30 to 90 days and never write them down or keep them anywhere
near your computer.
How to remember your passwords
So when you have a variety of passwords composed of random characters
that you're not supposed to write down and that (should) change every
few months, how on earth are you supposed to remember all of them?
There are several password management solutions online that are
secured by one ultra-strong password and can store all of your
passwords for you and recall them as needed. They range in price from
free to varying monthly and yearly fees. Many of them have enhanced
mobility so you can access your information from anywhere on
a smartphone.
Password alternatives
If you're still frustrated by managing multiple passwords, advances in
technology are starting to provide alternative methods for keeping
information secure.
*. HP Face Recognition' Is an innovative technology that uses your
notebook's webcam to take a photo of your face. That image is then
used in lieu of a password to log into your laptop and all your
important cloud services and websites, using a single sign-on.
*. HP Protect Tools' Saves
your information in a protected vault and automatically logs you in
when you want to access websites, applications and networks. It also
offers added security with the HP Fingerprint Sensor that uses your
fingerprint instead of a password. While password security may
eventually give way to more precise and manageable ways to keep data
secure, it's still unavoidable right now. That's why it's important to
keep in mind the various strategies to limit the vulnerability of your
personal information and remember what's at stake when you're creating
your passwords.