Spend Quality Time with your Password

Contributed by Elaine Landau

You are sitting at your computer. Your keyboard is placed just so and your mouse is poised for action. Now, just type in your password and you can start your day.

No problem. You type in your birth date with confidence.

Wrong.

You smile. Then you type in your social security number.

Wrong.

The smile starts to fade. You can’t remember your password. Breathe. This is just silly. Of course it will come to you. But your mind is blank. Worse than blank. You have no idea where to start. What were you thinking when you came up with that stupid password? You frantically type in anything that comes to mind.

Your dog’s name.

Wrong.

Your ferret’s nickname.

Wrong.

You look in your desk drawer for inspiration.

Pencil.

Stapler.

Hairy tic-tac.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

You peek over your cubicle wall. Nobody is looking. Your phone isn’t ringing, but you pick up the receiver anyway. There, taped on the inside of the handset, is your password.

a…b…c… You type each letter carefully.

Hey! You’re in!!!

You hug your computer. Life is good.

Or is it? If any of this sounds familiar, you may be vulnerable to hackers wanting to swipe your personal or professional information. Any consumer who is interested in learning how to use a computer or how to use the Internet needs to understand the importance of selecting the right personal password. First and foremost, with a password as simple as a, b, c, any computer hacker with a hacker dictionary can figure out your password within seconds. Maybe you don’t work in national security or a top-secret lab, so why should you care? Do you really want a stranger knowing your bank balance? Where your kids go to school? Your spouse’s travel itinerary? Thieves are out there trying to figure out your password. They are tireless and determined. You are vulnerable.

What can you do? Panic is always an option, but why not take a moment to become a password pro? Educate yourself. You can learn at home. Enhance your computer knowledge with online tutorials and the latest education software. The more you know, you are less likely to be victimized. And it all starts with your password.

Really take the time to create the perfect password, streamlined to your personal specifications. A good password usually has between 6-8 characters, and that doesn’t mean to limit yourself to just letters. Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little. Use numbers and letters and letters and numbers. That way, you increase the number of possible combinations exponentially… and frustrate hackers exponentially.

Don’t be afraid to think out of the field. If you limit your ideas to things you can easily remember, they can probably be easily hacked. Your password can express the real you, so don’t be shy. Live the password. Embrace the password. Be the password. Sound a little over-the-top? Why not? Since you never reveal your password to anyone, it can be as sassy as you please. And could you ever forget a password you spent so much quality time dreaming up? You won’t need any more cheat sheets taped to your telephone or scraps of paper in your wallet. No more a, b, c or 1, 2, 3 passwords. Forget using birth dates, anniversaries, social security numbers, or address numbers. Been there, done that, been hacked.

So, when you finally discover your perfect password, enjoy it. Use it over and over and over again. And then, when you are completely one with your password, dump it after 60 to 90 days and figure out another one. What? After all that work? Well, it may sound a little Mission Impossible-ish, but changing your password keeps you one step ahead of the computer bad guys.

So now you can start spending quality time thinking of the password you can live with and hackers will live without. By the way, “1 hot mama” is already taken. Oh, I guess I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. Well, back to my password quality time…

About the Author:
Elaine Landau is a freelance writer, publicist, web site editor, and television writer with more than 15 years of experience in marketing, advertising, and publicity.

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