ITComputerTechnical
SupportNewsletter
January11,2016
Vol.2,No.11
PasswordEtiquette
Thebestwaytocounteracthackersistosetupagooddefenseat
thebeginning,whichrequirescreatingsecurepasswords.It’s
importanttoknowwhatnottodowhenyoucreateapassword.
TABLEOFCONTENTS
Overview...........................…..1
Passwordusingpersonal
information…...……..………….…2
Samepasswordeverywhere..3
Defaultpasswords…....…………4
PasswordLength……….…………5
Passwordsexpires………………6
The IT Computer
Technical Support
Newsletter is complements
Of Pejman Kamkarian
ITComputerTechnicalSupportNewsletter|1
Don’tUsePersonalInformation
Thedaysofusingabirthdayoryourpet’snameasyourpassword
havebeenoverforyears.Whileit’sprobablytruethatnooneclosetoyou
isgoingtohackyouraccountthatdoesn’tmeanastrangercan’tjustas
easilyguessyourpassword.Alltheyneedtodoisseeyourprofilepictureof
youandyourbeloveddog,thenstartenteringpopularpetnames.Theodds
areinthehacker’sfavorinthisway.
ITComputerTechnicalSupportNewsletter|2
Don’tUsetheSamePasswordeverywhere
Maybeyoudidagoodjobchoosingacomplexpassword.Butifyou’re
usingitallovertheInternet,onshoppingaccount,socialmediaprofiles,banks
andcreditcardaccountsyou’rejustaskingtobecompromised.Ahackermayget
luckyanddetermineyourpasswordonanaccountwheretheycan’tdomuch
damage.Butiftheyalsohaveyourname,oranyotheridentifyinginformation,
theycanstarttryingoutthatpasswordonothersitesyoumayusesiteswithnot
sogreatsecurityandpotentiallygetintoanimportantaccountwheretheycan
reallydosomedamage.Don’tgettoocomfortablewithonepassword.Changeit
upfromonesitetoanothersite.
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Don’tKeepDefaultPasswords
Sayifyouaresettingupanewworkemail,oryou’recreatinganaccountin
anywebsite.TheITmanagerorthesite’sformmayassignatemporarypassword
toyou.Rememberit’sjusttemporary.Itisnotmeanttoremainyourpassword
becauseatleastoneotherpersonknowsit,orcouldprobablyguessitifitwas
“randomly”generatedusingyournameoranysimpleidentification.Change
assignedpasswordsimmediatelyuponsigningintothosenewaccountsforthe
firsttimeinanydevice,anddonotsharethenewpasswordswithanyone,even
theITdepartmentatwork.Ifnecessary,theyhaveothermeansofaccessingyour
email,butyoudon’twantanyonejustabletosignintoyourpersonalaccounts.
Someofthesetipsassumemanualworktoguessoutyourpassword.But
hackersaremoresophisticatedthanever.Theywillnotsatisfiedwithhackingjust
oneperson’saccountwhentheycouldbehackingthousands.Tothatend,they
usesoftwaretocyclethroughpossiblepasswordsforthem,muchmorequickly
thantheydideverbeabletodoitmanually.
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Chooselongpasswordsovershortones
Themorecharacters,themoredifficultyourpasswordwillbetobreak.A
three-letterpasswordcanbebrokeneasily.Elevenormoreletterscantakeupto
yearstocrack.
Addmorecharacters,numbers,punctuation,andsymbols,andthelength
oftimenecessarytobreakapasswordincreasesexponentially.
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Changeyourpasswordsregularly
Setupcalendarremindersifyouneedto.Ifyouhavealotofpasswords,
changethemonarotatingbasissoyoudon’thavetogothroughdozensor
possiblyhundredseverytime.Makesurethatyouchangeitandcomeupwiththe
newpasswords.
Itmayseemlikeahugeinconvenience,butthislittleinconveniencenow
avoidahugeheadachelater.
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