Making your passwords harder to crack!

Hello, I would like to remind you all about the safety of your "online personality''.

With almost every one having an online Identity, it is a MUST for people of such category any aspiring ones to create a STRONGER and "HARD-TO-BREAK" password each time occasions demand for such.

I will be sharing with you few tips and a "Tutoring video" fro PCWorld to boost your keen for online safety and protection.

Kerry Davis wrote of very recent while speaking about generating "hard-to-break" password and I quote:

"There’s nothing you can do if hackers get into a database with your password in it, but you can still protect yourself for all the other worst-case scenarios involving hacking."

Oooooh!!! how I wish I had come across such an helpful security tips, maybe it would have prevented my "darling" email address from being hacked some years back.

Nonetheless, in this video Davis shows ways of making your passwords harder to crack.

First, don’t make it easy on hackers by choosing a common password. 

Splashdata (detail about this soonest) uses security breaches to gather 'most popular passwords' lists each year. 

The word 'password', number sequences, and other simplistic phrases or numbers fill the top spots. 

Also, don’t use your name, a password related to another one you might have on a different site, or a login name.

Instead, experts recommend using 15 characters, upper-case letters, better yet nonsensical words with special characters and numbers inside them.

 
To get access to  video, click here: WatchMe
Cheers...

Micorsoft's recommendations on How to Check for Hackers

With all the security breaches we're having these days, it doesn't hurt to be vigilant for any suspicious activity. Your Microsoft account—linking SkyDrive, Outlook.com, Office webapps, Xbox, and possibly your PC—comes with a tool that shows you if any unauthorized parties tried to get into your account.

It's much like Google's and Dropbox's "last activity" solution: Microsoft keeps a log of successful and unsuccessful sign-ins, incorrect password attempts, and so on—along with the IP address, a map, and other details of the attempted device. Log into your Microsoft account and click the "Recent activity" link in the left menu to see it. 

Here's an example of the scene:

An Hacker's Attempt

An excerpt from the above image reveals that someone in Russia tried to get into the writer’s account but entered the wrong password. The map tells me this is someone in Khabarovsk, a place I've never been.

I'm not too concerned with that unsuccessful attempt. 

Because it's an unknown device and I have two-factor authentication turned on—something everyone should do wherever possible—the supposed hacker couldn't get in without my other authenticating device.

What would be troubling is if there was a successful sign-in from a location that's not mine. Then you know you've been compromised. You can hit the "This wasn't me" button on that page to tell Microsoft and recover your account.

Anyway, like looking at logs of your Wi-Fi router's login attempts, it's nice to remember every now and then that everything is all right. 

Hope to see you taking your account's security more seriously after reading this.