5 Mistakes You Might be Making When Choosing a Password by Nicole Dean
Are you making yourself a target for fraud? More and more often I am hearing stories of people who have had their accounts hacked. They have had money stolen, lost sleep, spent hours setting up new accounts, or had their credit ruined. Don't let this happen to you. ... Most of the good password programs will not only store your passwords on your computer, but they'll generate completely random passwords when you need one. ... And, for goodness sakes, if your password is "password" or "test" then it's a wonder you haven't been hacked yet!

Open Sesame - Password Security by Terrence F. Doheny
"Open Sesame!" is probably the most famous password in literature. It gave Ali Baba access to vast treasure.  In the realm of technology, computer passwords also give access to valuable treasures:  precious business and personal data. Information about your personal life, buying habits, credit... Simple or short passwords can be easily discovered through "brute force" or "dictionary" attacks which concentrate intense computer power to crack a password. ... Microsoft security has encouraged the concept of the "Pass Phrase" as an alternative.

Tips For Password Management by Scott Morris
These days a single computer user may have dozens of passwords. If you use computers at your job you may need to access secured databases, local workstations and numerous accounts online and each is supposed to have its own unique password. Though many people don't require a logon for their home... Using Password Management applications such as Password Safe, a free Microsoft application for storing passwords, and Password Vault (also free) can help you to effectively manage your passwords. ... This simple and practical task is what author of Beyond Fear, and system security phenomenon,...

Passwords Used In Microsoft Word Documents by Denis Gladysh
You would like to protect your documents, wouldn't you? Reasons may vary but the problem is the same – you need to protect your Microsoft Word documents from unauthorized editing or viewing. What document protection features does Microsoft® Office Word 2003, a part of Microsoft Office... You may assign a password to open both a new document ( Save As > Tools > Security Options ) and an existing one ( Main Menu > Tools > Options > Security ). ... But it is not that easy with Password to open : The first versions of Microsoft Word had rather weak security; it took a bit more time to crack...

3 Ways Computers Can Hurt Your Ministry - Part 2 - Weak Network Security by Donnie Schexnayder
Our computers have become almost indispensable ministry tools. What would you do if the worst happened and you had to function without your computers? Would your ministry survive? This article is the second in a 3-part series on how to protect your ministry from serious computer-related loss. ... This is a common security problem, and it’s almost as bad as having no password at all. ... Regular Security Audits Another benefit of having a relationship with a good IT consultant is that they can perform ongoing security audits on your ministry network.

How to Secure Your PC - What Norton and Microsoft Won't Tell You by Matthew Sirpis
The main problem with Windows computers is that most people run them with Administrator privileges. This means that if they want to install software, change system settings etc., they don't have to enter a password, they can change anything they want. ... You could surf the web and do all your daily tasks with normal restricted privileges and if you need to install software or change your network settings, you log in as admin, enter your password, do your stuff, log out, and log back in as yourself.

Online Banking Security - The Number One Priority by Bruce Walls
Whenever a bank issues a security threat to its customers, other banks seem to suffer a drop in Internet traffic and account usage, too. This is not because people don't trust the other banks, it's because customers are reminded of how susceptible they are to fraud. ... 'We guarantee if any money is taken from your account through a computer crime, we will repay it in full.' Banks pride themselves on providing top notch online banking security to their customers. ... So here you enter your login details and answer a security question to enter your account.

Protect Your Computer Against Spyware by Matt Peterson
Everyone has heard of the need for antivirus and anti-spyware programs, but some people still don’t realize what spyware is, or why it’s so dangerous. Spyware is not the same as a computer virus. Viruses corrupt files and destroy data. Spyware generally keeps track of where you go... As part of computer security, spyware should be updated once every 24 hours, and your computer should be scanned once a day, with a full scan once a week just to be on the safe side. ... Preventing the spread of spyware is an important aspect of computer security.

LM and MD5 Hash Security and Cracking by Brian Wilson
In this paper I will discuss Encryption and how to Crack encrypted hashes without the decryption key. Let’s start with an explanation or the idea behind encryption. Encryption is used to secure or hide data from unauthorized personal and has been around from about 1800 BC and is not going away. ... LM is made by taking the users password and converting it to all uppercase and them splitting the password into two seven character halves. ... MD5 Hash Example: 16d2c02aad8d116bc403f73454a5eeb1 = emocan 32-Digit Hash pass^ Cracking Password Hashes Cracking password hashes can be easy if you...

Spyware Definitions List by Gary Gresham
The adware and spyware definitions list is very long. But the definitions listed below are the most common ones. This is a glossary of spyware facts and terms so you'll know what these malicious programs are and what they can do to your computer. Adware Adware components are generally installed... Password Cracker A password cracker is simply a program used to decrypt a password or password file. ... Security administrators use password crackers for legitimate use by using them to improve system security.