By: Nicole Dean
Published: August 19th, 2010
I’ve been an online business owner since back in 2004. In addition to running my own business, I’ve also had plenty of clients over the years (while I worked as an Affiliate Manager). So you could say that I’ve seen the inner workings of a lot of businesses over the years between my own and my clients’ businesses.
And as someone who’s seen the ins and outs of businesses all over the web, I’m asking you to read this article and protect your business. (And spread the word, too).
There are two very important parts to password safety:
- Use “safe” passwords that are difficult to guess
- Use a variety of passwords for all of your accounts
Here’s the scoop…
TIP #1: CHOOSE HARD TO GUESS PASSWORDS.
If your password is any of the following, you may be in danger:
- Pet name
- Child name
- Celebrity name
- Date of birth
- Any word in the dictionary
A hacker can run software that repeatedly tries to match your email address or public user name with a database of common passwords (using all of the terms above). They can run their program 24 hours/day and 365 days/year until they crack into your account.
Example: If your WordPress blog has the username “admin” and the password “misty” – you’re sitting on a ticking time bomb.
TIP #2: USE A VARIETY OF PASSWORDS.
I, personally, have access to tens of thousands of usernames and passwords. Perhaps I have some of yours, if you’ve signed up for any of my affiliate programs over the years, or have bought any of my products that require you to set up an account.
I’d like to run a logic-check. If I have those passwords, and say, one of MY sites gets hacked (not even one of yours, but if one of mine does), then that person will have access to your username, password, and email address.
If you’re using that same username and password on other sites… that is asking for big trouble.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT.
How would you like to wake up in the morning and find that your Twitter account has been spamming your followers all night?
What if you are using the same password on both your Twitter account and on your email account? Then the hacker has access to both. So, in addition to the Twitter nightmare, you also wake up to angry phone calls from friends and family and business contacts asking why you’re sending them spam and nasty yucky emails?
And the worst part?
You try to log in to your accounts to stop it but you can’t because your password has been changed from the inside.
It really makes you think. At least it made me think.
The possibilities are quite unnerving to say the least. Plus, I’m one of those people who can’t stand it when bad things happen to good people. So, I’m begging you to please update your passwords. Make sure you use both letters and numbers (something like few8a6), so they aren’t easy to guess. If you can add in a few symbols, that’s even better (like r32!9@ey). Finally, always use a unique password for anything that is important – like your Twitter accounts and email logins.
About The Author:
Nicole Dean cares – a lot – about online business owners and she wants them to succeed. In fact she’s put together a guide on the topic: How to Avoid Disaster in your Online Business. She’s also recorded a free training video which shows how she, personally, manages her passwords. You can watch it here: http://www.nicoleonthenet.com/password-manager.
Article Source: www.isnare.com
