Archives - Password


Put passwords on your flash drives and encrypt them

Due to their small size and potential to fall out of your pocket, flash drives are common objects of theft. Encryption and a password can help to keep the data within the drive safe. It’s long been thought that the more complicated a password, the harder it is for hackers. This once maybe once was […]

Never give a password via email

No company will ever, under any circumstances, ask you for your password via email. Any email asking you to provide your password is a phishing scam. If you ever need to enter your password, always type the URL of the company’s site directly into the hyperlink bar to be sure the site is genuine. Also […]

Use a PIN to protect your Windows account

While you can opt for the convenience of having no security checks before logging into Windows, this leaves you vulnerable to anyone else walking up to the machine and looking at your data. This can be especially problematic if you live with other people who don’t need to see what’s on your computer. Adding a […]

Try including special characters in your password

Some websites and applications allow or even require special characters – like < and ! – in passwords. If you have the option to include them, do so, since their presence makes the password more difficult to guess than if it only contained alphanumerics.

Use Google Password Manager to identify compromised passwords

If you allow Google Chrome to save your passwords, you can find a full list of them by going to passwords.google.com while signed into your account. At the top of this page is an option to “Go to Password Checkup.” This does a comprehensive scan of all your saved passwords and flags any that are […]

Use caution when providing your information

Emails that appear to come from a legitimate source and websites that appear to be legitimate may be malicious. An example is an email claiming to be sent from a system administrator requesting your password or other sensitive information or directing you to a website that requests your information. Online services (e.g., banking, ISPs, retailers) […]