Comments on: Protecting online identity http://www.colindiponio.com/2008/02/13/protecting-online-identity/ North West Computer Consultancy Sat, 12 Dec 2009 22:09:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Colin DiPonio http://www.colindiponio.com/2008/02/13/protecting-online-identity/comment-page-1/#comment-3285 Colin DiPonio Thu, 14 Feb 2008 09:10:06 +0000 http://www.colindiponio.com/2008/02/13/protecting-online-identity/#comment-3285 Hi Gary I know what you mean. Thats some very good advice in your comments. I agree with it all. Colin Hi Gary

I know what you mean. Thats some very good advice in your comments. I agree with it all.

Colin

]]> By: Gary F http://www.colindiponio.com/2008/02/13/protecting-online-identity/comment-page-1/#comment-3280 Gary F Wed, 13 Feb 2008 21:00:38 +0000 http://www.colindiponio.com/2008/02/13/protecting-online-identity/#comment-3280 Colin, my use of the word "you" isn't aimed at you, I know you're good with security! I'm using the French version of the word - vous. Is it too late to adopt that into the English language? It could be very useful. Colin, my use of the word “you” isn’t aimed at you, I know you’re good with security! I’m using the French version of the word – vous. Is it too late to adopt that into the English language? It could be very useful.

]]> By: Gary F http://www.colindiponio.com/2008/02/13/protecting-online-identity/comment-page-1/#comment-3279 Gary F Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:57:11 +0000 http://www.colindiponio.com/2008/02/13/protecting-online-identity/#comment-3279 Things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better. With so many people taking to Facebook, MySpace etc it's very easy to learn about individuals and with a little bit of social hacking you can become their friend and get to know their partner's name, their dog's name, even who they bank with. Bloggers must also beware because many are unknowingly providing ID fraudsters with personal information, especially those who mention personal events and people in their life. Suppose you set up a hotmail account and choose your daughter's name followed by her birth date as the password. This is more common than you think. If you blog about your daughter then hackers can take a long shot at guessing at your password. The best advice is to avoid adding information about yourself to social networking sites and blogs (not gonna happen!) and most importantly use a different password for each website and account you have. Passwords shouldn't be words contained in the dictionary. A tip to create a secure password that's also easy to remember, think of an unusual 8+ character word (not anything that someone would associate with you) and replace certain letters with numbers and symbols. e.g. cabaretclub becomes (6b6r3t(1ub. You'll get used to it but it increases your security by a huge factor. Just don't use the same password for each website. Personally I don't trust websites to store my password securely, especially sites that have the facility to email you a reminder of your password. Big no-no. Things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better. With so many people taking to Facebook, MySpace etc it’s very easy to learn about individuals and with a little bit of social hacking you can become their friend and get to know their partner’s name, their dog’s name, even who they bank with.

Bloggers must also beware because many are unknowingly providing ID fraudsters with personal information, especially those who mention personal events and people in their life.

Suppose you set up a hotmail account and choose your daughter’s name followed by her birth date as the password. This is more common than you think. If you blog about your daughter then hackers can take a long shot at guessing at your password.

The best advice is to avoid adding information about yourself to social networking sites and blogs (not gonna happen!) and most importantly use a different password for each website and account you have. Passwords shouldn’t be words contained in the dictionary.

A tip to create a secure password that’s also easy to remember, think of an unusual 8+ character word (not anything that someone would associate with you) and replace certain letters with numbers and symbols. e.g. cabaretclub becomes (6b6r3t(1ub. You’ll get used to it but it increases your security by a huge factor. Just don’t use the same password for each website. Personally I don’t trust websites to store my password securely, especially sites that have the facility to email you a reminder of your password. Big no-no.

]]>