Password Hacking - An Explanation And How to Protect Yourself
By Michael Maxstead
Unfortunately, people generally use a single password to every online account they have: the online banking account, social networking sites, e-mail and other websites that requires them to sign up. That's why it is very easy for hackers to pass beyond their protection, compromise an account and then have access to all others.
This is the main reason the computer security is so important nowadays. Protecting yourself from password hackers will help you avoid unpleasant situations or even destructive ones.
What represents password hacking? It is a method used by hackers to crack someone password in order to gain access to personal data, access copyrighted works or sensitive intellectual property, steal money from a bank account or use the computer or server to send out spam email. Hackers prefer searching for 'security holes' through which they can easily gain access on your account without much trouble. These holes usually exist in the plugins and that we install on our sites and PC's.
Another method used by them in the password hacking process is to use programs or software which run through letter and number combinations until it gets a match with the real password, gaining access to your account. They can destroy all of your files stored in the PC or erase your e-mails.
Everybody can be targeted by computer hackers, especially those with a bank account or with an important position in a company. That's why is crucial to protect yourself against them. How to do that? There are several methods. The first 4 are for your PC protection, the rest will tell you how to protect from password hackers:
- Buy a good virus protection software and keep it up-to-date: this will keep the worms out, even if they are "up-to-date"
- Avoid downloading programs from unknown sources, like torrents and other free sources; it's best to stick with commercial software purchased on CD-ROM or via internet
- Make sure that the Firewall and the Macro Virus Protection feature is enabled in all Microsoft applications on the PC: this will increase your protection greatly
- Never access (or double click) an email attachment containing an executable program which have an extension like.exe,.com, or.vbs. This can be a very dangerous virus which triggers if you open the file
- Add just one special character to your password: this will give your more protection than using words from the dictionary. It will take 10.000 times more time to hack your password
- Make your password longer and also set at least one capitalised letter
- Try to use a different password to every important online accounts you posses, such as e-mails, bank accounts, or the online storage service
- Personalize your own security question: you' ll often find security questions on e-mail services such as gmail, yahoo or msn, allowing users to gain access to their online account in case they have forgotten their password. Be smart and choose a difficult answer that nobody will guess.
- Also use your mobile phone for password recovery: this service is provided by Google.
- And lastly back-up all of your data on an external hard disk or and stick, just in case.
Michael Maxstead is a computer networking consultant who likes to write about VPN and Networking related technologies. If you visit his website VPNreviewz.com you can learn about hotspot shield and personal vpn.
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