by April J.

Created on: November 08, 2008   Last Updated: November 23, 2008

In the age of the Internet, computer networks, ATMs and online banking, a few keystrokes are often all that stand between your data and the shady characters out there who would love to get their hands on it. Still, it is easy to underestimate the power and importance of a password that we use everyday, and for many its importance never comes to mind, that is until its security fails. Poor password security puts you at risk for identity theft, embarrassing privacy violations, and even monetary loss. Good password security is possible and even easy once you learn the basics. With a little creativity, vigilance and care, you can choose and maintain passwords that will safeguard your data, money and identity. This article will approach this security topic from a number of angles, because a key to data security is leaving no vulnerabilities unaddressed.

HEALTHY PARANOIA

The most important part of computer security, in my opinion, is mental - it is in the mind and psychology of the user. First, you must believe your data is worth protecting. We sometimes hear people say "who would want my password anyway? I don't have anything interesting..." and this attitude leads them to practice poor computer security. The rise of Identity Theft itself refutes their argument as even the personal information that make up the user's identity is interesting enough in itself to an attacker.

Next, you must arm yourself with critical thinking, curiosity, a questionning nature and, yes, a healthy dose of paranoia. Now this does not mean that you hole yourself up in your basement at night with the blinds closed and watch TV wearing a tin-foil hat after bug-sweeping your entire house. It just means doing things like shielding your hands when you enter your PIN at an ATM, changing your password periodically, running a spyware scan on your computer, questionning claims made by emails from your friends (Does Bill Gates really want to send you money...?) and stopping to think before clicking OK to download something. I believe that critical thinking will do more to secure anyone's computer system than the most hardened firewall and greatest anti-virus software known to man.

PROPER PASSWORD STORAGE

Your password should be stored in one place and one place only, and that place is in your memory. It completely defeats the purpose of having a password in the first place if all Jane or Joe Hacker needs to do is find the post-it stuck to your monitor, or under your keyboard, or the message scrawled

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