|
Home::Security
How to Manage Your Username and Password The Easy and Secure Way
Author : Jerry Yu
Have been an Internet user for more than 9 years, I have 100's
of logins and passwords to keep. I'm paranoid. I'm now even
more paranoid after I joined YMMSS because I use online payment
systems on weekly basis if not daily. I used to use Microsoft Excel to manage my usernames, passwords,
and other registration information, both online and offline.
Excel is not safe because there are programs to crack password
protected Excel workbooks and I even cracked the spreadsheet and
VBA source code password for one of my old Excel financial
models I developed. Today I still use Excel to store some personal
information but I only save the Excel file on my another
PC that is not connected to Internet. In my article "6 Essential Steps to Protect Your Computer On the
Internet", I highly recommended the award winning RoboForm. Free
version of RoboForm (http://www.roboform.com) does come with
limitations such as 10 Passcards only. If you don't want to buy
the Pro version (costs $29.99 as of my writing), there is an
easy-to-use freeware (see below) you can download right now and
manage unlimited usernames and passwords. Download freeware Password Safe from SourceForge.net - the Open
Source community. https://sourceforge.net/projects/passwordsafe/ Here are some great features of Password Safe: - No installation is required. Simply download and double click the
pwsafe.exe file. - Easy portable. Just copy and paste the EXE file and .dat database
file to any disks. Be aware that when you open Password Safe in
the other disk, you need to specify the database file location
(the .dat file). - One master password unlocks an entire password database that can
contain all your other passwords. - Grouping. Usernames and passwords can be grouped into different
categories you define, eg. Email Address, Payment, etc. You are in
total control. - Strong, random password generation. - Copy username and password to clipboard so that you don't have to
type them. Always keep in mind that you should never type any
username and password. - Browse to URL. With one click, the URL related to your username
and password can be opened in your default web browser. Another
save on typing. - You can create more than one password database (but you have to
memorize more than one master password. Not recommended.) Here are some tips of using Password Safe (version 2.04) and
managing password in general. Tip #1 - Always create a strong master password (Safe Combination
as used in the software). Strong password should meet the following criteria: - At least 8 characters long to prevent cracking. The longer the better. - The password should contain lowercase, uppercase, numeric, and any
other characters that are available on keyboard. - Ideally you should not use any meaningful words or numbers in the
password. Totally random password is the best. Tip #2 - Let PasswordSafe generate random password for you. To generate random password: - Click the menu item Edit. - Select Add Entry (or use corresponding icon button). - When the dialogue window opens, on the right hand side, you can
see a Random Password Generate button. Click it, a random password
will be automatically inserted in the Password field. The generated random password is constructed according to the password
policy defined in Password Safe. You can modify the default policy. - Click the menu item Manage.
- In the dropdown menu, click Options.
- Click the Password Policy tab.
- Change the policy based on the strong password criteria stated above. Some sites only allow alphanumeric passwords so make sure you select
the appropriate check boxes when this is the case. Tip #3 - Very Important: Never type your master password when open
PasswordSafe. Keylogger spyware can record keystrokes. How can you enter master password without typing? I do this. Step 1: Open a Notepad file (.txt). Step 2: Copy and paste an article from any Internet website to
this .txt file. Step 3: Select characters from this article and copy, paste to form your
master password. Tip #4 - Very Important: Never lose your master password. I memorize my master password. In addition, I also physically write it
down to a hand written study material that has my previous uni works.
Among the 1,000's of words, I placed my 22 characters master password
in two different pages in encrypted format that can let me derive
my master password. Tip #5 - Categorize username and password. When you add a new entry, you need to specify Group, Title,
Username, Password, and Notes. The entries that share the same Group
name will be gathered together automatically. One Group can contain another Group as its sub Group. For example,
I have Email Address group which contains three sub-groups as
Friend, Work, Family. Tip #6 - For security reasons, always use Copy Username to
Clipboard and Copy Password to Clipboard. Remember, never type username and password on a web form. This is how
to do it. - Highlight an entry. - Right click mouse. - In the pop-up menu, select Copy Username to Clipboard or Copy Password
to Clipboard - Go to your login form, paste the username or password. You can use mouse to do copy and paste. If you prefer short-cut keys,
this is how. Copy: Ctrl+C
Paste: Ctrl+V Tip #7 - Use "Browse to URL" rather than typing URL in browser address bar. When you enter a new entry or edit an existing one, you can enter a URL
(must start with http://) at the first line in the Notes field. You can save website login
page's URL in this field. When you need to open a login page in browser,
right click the entry and click Browse to URL in the pop-up menu. Then
the login page will be opened in your default web browser automatically. Tip #8 - Don't forget to backup your password database file. Use the Make Backup menu item to save a second copy of your password file. Tip #9 - Store your backups in a different offline computer or location. This is a widely used backup strategy. Tip #10 - Use the Notes field to store as many information as you want. Very handy for memo. If you don't have two computers, you need to use other storage media
to save a second copy of your backup file and version them by date
(easy to track back). Other storage media can be zip drive,
thumb drive, floppy disk, CD, etc. Off site backups are also important. Don't overlook this. You lose
all your data if you lose both your computer and your other
storage media all together for any reason. Many companies provide online storage services for a fee. You can
store any digital files (you should password protect these files
first) on their secure servers. Search Google and you will find a lot. I have two computers. One is used to surf net and it does not have any
sensitive info stored on it. Another one is for my development work
(not connected to Internet) and it has my backup files. I also store
my backups in a thumb drive and CDs sometimes. The author, Jerry Yu, is an experienced internet marketer and web developer. He is a proud member of YMMSS. Visit his site Get Paid Full Time Income By Reading Ads Online - YMMSS for FREE "how-to" step-by-step action guide to kick start a successful online business, tips, knowledge base articles, and more. Spam emails More free articles Related articles
|
More related feeds |
Securing Cisco Routers the Easy Way
and the enable password, both of which are subject to brute forcing...But think about how much more secure your gear is if an attacker has to guess both a username and a password. It would certainly render brute forcing impossible. ...Self-Service Provisioning! Palin's nightmare?
There are certainly many easy ways to hack into such accounts. One is to simply guess the answers to the questions asked when you've forgotten your password. Typical questions are things like your mother’s maiden name or the street ... test ทดสà¸à¸š
Manage your bookmarks a lot or a little. One click on the star icon at the end of the location bar bookmarks a site. Two clicks and you can choose where to save it and whether to tag it. File bookmarked sites in easy-to-access folders ... How to Manage Your Username and Password The Easy and Secure Way
Copy username and password to clipboard so that you don’t have to type them. Always keep in mind that you should never type any username and password. - Browse to URL. With one click, the URL related to your username and password can be ... Its 10 am, do you know where your organization's log ins are?
Use a password keeper program - This method can be easier and more secure but will take a little more effort and organization to get set up. Using the program features and keychains that come with your operating system is not what I am ... Step-by-Step: Creating a Wireless Network – Part 2
PPPoE requires you to supply a username and password to initiate your broadband connection, information which should have been provided to you when your broadband service was installed or purchased. Static IP: Less common for home ... How to Manage Your Username and Password The Easy and Secure Way
... I have 100's of logins and passwords to keep. I'm paranoid. I'm now even more paranoid after I joined YMMSS because I use online payment systems on weekly basis if not daily. I used to use Microsoft Excel to manage my usernames, ... tolle Ressourcen Uebersicht für GRATIS Software und Services von ...
Your employees can order products directly for less than the estimated retail price through a secure, Microsoft-hosted e-commerce site. The Employee Purchase Program is a great way to help boost employee morale. ... SQL Server 2005 Express Tools
Example 1, because it uses SQL Server security, connects with a user name of sqladmin and a password of 12345. Example 2 connects using Windows security, so no user name or password is required. The current network login is used. ... Browser surf wars
and the icons can be easily resized according to your preference. Downloading additional skins is easy — just click on the ‘Find more skins’ option to download additional skins right from the browser. Overall, finding our way around the ...
|
|
