Member-only story
Let’s Play Password
People realize the importance of having a password (digital, of course) to protect your high-value goodies. Table stakes needed for doing on-line banking are your email, your Amazon Prime account, your frequent buyer _______ (fill in the blank) account, etc. Your list of routine sites requires a unique userID and password before you are approved for entry to actual order and buy. Simple, right?
Whoa, wait a minute! If your userID and password are too simple, can’t the cyber bad guys pretend to be you and confiscate your resources? Let’s talk about how to create and optimize your userIDs and passwords.
First, let me argue against simple userIDs. If you use a common identifier such as your name (John Smith, for example), many folks just use that foundation to create their login userID. What’s wrong with that, you ask? Think of it this way, if it’s easy to guess your userID, then ½ of the login activity is already compromised. All a hacker guy (or girl) needs is your password to become YOU, on your account. For accounts you set up in the future, always look to create something not only unique but also hard to connect to you for half of your login credentials. Perhaps JSMITH5677 made it harder to guess but easily remembered across your vast empire of login resources.
I can hear it now, Argh! I don’t want to go back and change all the existing userIDs because of…
