PASSWORDS

Passwords are like underwear. Don't Leave Them Lying Around !!!

Passwords - No doubt the one most forgotten thing in anyone's life time is their
password. So why do we need passwords and why should I have to change it so
often?? "It's because the IT guys make me change it" right???? Well, I'm sure it
would appear that way to many of you and that the time you have to change your
password is the time that you really need to login straight away and you don't have
time to think of a new password. Isn't it always the way? I can assure you, it's
the same for all of us. Even those of us in IT.

I can actually tell you from experience that it's even worse for those people in IT
because of the sheer number of passwords that we need to remember. For most
of you, you might only have to remember maybe 3 or 4 passwords. Well for many
people in IT, it is more like up to 20 different passwords in some cases. I can count
at least 15 different passwords that I use myself.

So why do we need passwords?
A definition of Password is: - "A secret series of characters that enables a user to
access a file, computer, or program." Think of your password like the keys to your
house or your car. Without it, you cannot legally get in. Of course there are ways of
getting around locks and passwords but there are things you can do to make it as
difficult as possible for people to get around your password.

Because we all require different programs, different access and different services,
the use of user ids and passwords has become the means by which these differing
requirements can be met. The original purpose of the login or user id was actually
for system accounting. It was a means of being able to work out how much time
people used on a system so they could be billed. But that is not so much of an
issue these days. So a user id to identify a person on the system combined with
a passwords enable the delivery of systems and services required by each
individual user. The purpose of the password is to stop other people gaining
access to your services and data. Just like the keys to your house or car.

Picking a strong password? When choosing a new password here are a few things NOT to do:

-Don't use your user id as your password
-Don't use easily guessed words (eg apple, monday, password)
-Don't use things like kids names, the dogs name
-Never leave your password written down near your computer

Now for some good news. Here are some hints to consider when setting your password:

-Use a mixture of letters and numbers
-Use upper and lower case letters
-Use some of the keyboard symbols. Eg @, $, !, ^
-Use numbers to replace letters. For example, the letter O can be replaced by a 0 (zero).
So Monday would become m0nday.
-Here are some other substitutions: i ? 1, e ? 3, s ? 5, b ? 8 Use the first letter of each
word of a phrase. For example, "I really do hate Monday" could become "1rdhM"
-The longer your password is, the harder it is to crack or guess

Here is an example of a password that would be very difficult to guess and would
take a long time for a password cracker to work out: "YrUhere2Day" which translates
to "Why are you here today". So please remember, "Passwords are like underwear,
Don't Leave Them Lying Around" and please do not tell anyone else your password.
Would you tell someone the PIN number to your ATM card?