Password Security is becoming a problem for some folks, these days everyone wants your password to be longer than 8 characters, have a capital letter, a punctuation mark, a 3 digit prime number and a Sanskrit hieroglyph! Recently a well known journalist had his entire online life destroyed by hackers using simple tricks to obtain password resets, and then they wiped out his entire online presence, can you imagine how you would feel if all of your online life suddenly disappeared Therefore securing your password is of the utmost importance.

Some things to remember:

Never write passwords down.

Never send a password through email.

Never include a password in a non-encrypted stored document.

Never tell anyone your password.

Never reveal your password over the telephone.

Never hint at the format of your password.

Never reveal or hint at your password on a form on the internet.

Never use the "Remember Password" feature of application programs such as Internet Explorer, your email program, or any other program.

Never use your corporate or network password on an account over the internet which does not have a secure login where the web browser address starts with https:// rather than http://

Report any suspician of your password being broken to your IT computer security office.

If anyone asks for your password, refer them to your IT computer security office.

Don't use common acronyms as part of your password.

Don't use common words or reverse spelling of words in part of your password.

Don't use names of people or places as part of your password.

Don't use part of your login name in your password.

Don't use parts of numbers easily remembered such as phone numbers, social security numbers, or street addresses.

Be careful about letting someone see you type your password.

Happy and Safe Computing