Privacy and Security News and Tips 20160330

“This is my password,” said the King as he drew his sword. “The light is dawning, the lie broken. Now guard thee, miscreant, for I am Tirian of Narnia.” — C.S. Lewis

Weekly Tip

This week I thought I would bring you some ideas about usernames, passwords, passphrase vaulting, and online accounts.

When you think about all of the accounts we have online and the number of information leaks, think about how often you reuse the same username or worse, password. Best practice is to use unique passwords for everything you do, and not to share them unless absolutely necessary, and then change it as soon as the other party no longer needs it. Remember, a secret is no longer a secret when a second person knows it. A password manager like 1Password or Lastpass helps to organize and maintain unique passwords, but consider using unique usernames too to make it that much harder for someone to even attempt to access a second account with the information from the first. The links this week are to my site and give a much longer explanation on passwords and vaulting with password managers.

A bonus idea is to consider using disposable email addresses for sites that may share your information. Gmail and Google Apps both allow you to create unlimited aliases on the fly. If your email is user@gmail.com, you can use user+facebook@gmail.com, etc.

Interesting News

Passwords And Passphrases, Your Most Common Security Measure

Passphrase Vaulting

Lastpass

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 30th, 2016 at 8:27 pm. It is filed under Privacy, Security and tagged with ATTOG Technologies, Eric Leuthardt, news, passphrases, passwords, pii, privacy, security, Weekly Tip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.