NK5's Blog

Content copyright NK5 LLC and may not be re-printed without prior permission

Identity theft is a very real threat in this day and age. If you have been lucky enough to avoid the nightmare of having to clean up after someone steals your identity, heed this advice.

Did you know that over 70% if internet users polled admitted to using the same password for every web site they frequent? They said it was just too much of a hassle to remember different passwords for all those different places. The problem is that while web sites like your bank are extremely secure, other web sites you visit may not be. All someone has to do is break into one of those web sites, steal the entire database of users, email address & passwords, and then use that same password to login to your email.

From there it's like taking candy from a baby. They can use your own email account login and password to find other web sites you visit, and then login to those too. Even if the password for your banking site may be different, the hacker could easily have the password reset or emailed to you email account, now that they have access to that. (Ironically, people's email password is almost always the easiest one to guess or hack.)

So what should you do about it? The answer is obvious - use different passwords on different web sites. You may be wondering how you are expected to remember all those passwords without having to write them down, defeating the purpose of this exercise in the first place. I'll let you in on a method that is both easy to remember and extremely effective at keeping the hackers at bay.

This method is what I call the multi-tier approach. Decide how important a web site you visit is, based on what kind of personally identifiable information is kept there:

Low risk:
If it's just a place where you are only known by an alias and they didn't ask for any personal information that could be used against you, that site is considered low risk. If someone were to hack into your account, the worst thing they could do would be to leave comments on a forum pretending to be you or perhaps read all that spam in your inbox.

I have many low risk accounts. I create different email address for different web sites, forums, etc.. and always lie on the registration form. Just be sure to remember what you filled out in case you need to reset that password. These low risk accounts are great for registering an account without having to worry about getting even more spam.

The password I use for low risk accounts is not easy to guess, but is easy to remember. If someone really wanted to hack into those accounts, it probably wouldn't take them long. They would be surprised to find that my name is Jabbr Mouth, and that I live in Alaska.

An example of a low risk account password would be '07honda'. I don't drive a Honda, so it wouldn't be easy for someone else to guess. I consider Honda's one of the best cars for the money, so it's easy for me to remember.

Medium risk:
Medium risk web sites are places where I need to use real information, and might be a little bothered if someone were to hack into them. Places lke MySpace and Facebook are good examples, assuming you use real information on those types of web sites.

The password I use for medium risk accounts are similar to the one for low risk accounts, with something added in to make it difficult to hack in a timely manner. An example would be '20black07honda'. Again, I don't drive a Honda, but if I bought one, it would be black.

I also change the password on medium risk web sites at least every 90 days. If you use Outlook, it's a trivial thing to set an appointment reminder.

High risk:
High risk web sites are banks, PayPal, Amazon, or any web site that has ever asked for your mailing address, bank account number, credit card number, etc. A hacker could do some damage to your life if they were able to login to a high risk site.

For these high risk sites, I use a password that is next to impossible to hack, even by brute force. I typically use long foreign language words with mixed case, and throw in some numbers and symbols, if  the web site will allow them. An example would be 'Negra2@@7Honda!'  Notice how long that password is, but yet still fairly easy to remember.

It's also important to use a similar pattern when chosing passwords for high risk web sites. I use a pattern that I can figure out within three attempts if I happen to have forgotten which password I used. That will keep you from locking out your own account and having to phone the bank to have it reset. As an added precaution, be sure to change your high risk web site passwords at least every 30 days. It may be a pain in the rear to do so, but having to untangle the mess of identity theft will make your life a living hell for well over 6 months.

I personally use a lot of high risk web sites, so it's become a problem to remember them all. (Not all web sites let you use symbols in password fields.) I've often resorted to saving them in a text file on the computer, and then using GNU PGP (free software) to encrypt the file with a password that would take years to hack. If you decide to go this route, be absolutely sure you don't forget the password you used to encrypt your master password file! (And stay away from software solutions like Gator - they are incredibly easy to hack into.)

By the way, your wireless router should be considered high risk. If someone were to use your wireless internet connection to hack into somewhere else, YOU would be held responsible. If you haven't done so already, secure that wireless router with WPA, MAC Address and an impossibly difficult password. WEP can be hacked into in less than 5 minutes, regardless of MAC address lock-down or password difficulty.


By following this multi-tier password approach, you can sleep sound at night knowing your most intimate details are secured from prying eyes!

By: Barry McDonald

 

Positive thinking is an amazing tool, but without action it's a waste of time. Rather than just having a momentary thought it's more of a way of life. It's a technique that you use to create positive affirmations that can counter negative thoughts and doubts by neutralizing them and building the self-confidence you need for whatever you want to achieve.

Thinking this way is a skill you can learn and develop with consistent practice, but it is worth it to create a habit of positive thinking?

In some circles positive thinking is sometimes cynically referred to as pollyannaish, a naive and overly optimistic view of life by overlooking the things we don't like and focusing only on the good.

So how about you?

How do you view things, negatively or positively? It can be easy for all of us to focus only on the negative but it's usually as easy to look for a positive angle to things as it is for a negative angle.

By looking on the positive side we can affect our subconscious mind as we invoke the law of attraction and we can then attract a better set of circumstances into our life. Remember concentrate on the positive and expect a positive result but did you know that it takes as much effort to think about the negative as it is for the positive.

In some ways positive thinking is infectious and can lead to a 'can do' attitude within an individual, a team and an organization. It's been said that the only difference between a success and a failure is the attitude of mind the person had before they entered that task.

One cannot pay lip service to positive thinking. You need to practice and make positive thinking your prevailing attitude towards life. The very feel of positive thinking itself will help you to feel confident and move towards your goal.

In order to acquire the great status of positive thinker, we must realize what positive thinking is all about and what it is not. Our usual misconceptions about positive thinking are that money will drop out of the sky; GOD will come on a chariot to take away the sufferings and pains and lot more imaginations, while this would be great unfortunately it won't happen but by staying positive you remain open to new directions and guidance rather than just shutting down and giving up.

Attitude forms an important part of positive thinking whereas thinking contributes lot to the attitude. It's kind of like the chicken and egg, which came first? If you have a bad attitude you'll never consider changing how you think but can positive thinking change your attitude.

How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking and attitude may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you're optimistic or pessimistic.

A positive attitude and optimistic thinking are healthy. When you wholeheartedly adopt a 'with all your heart' attitude and go all out with the positive principle, you can do incredible things. Happy, optimistic people are usually described as having positive attitudes and expressing positive thoughts.

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that admits into the mind thoughts, words and images that are conductive to growth, expansion and success.

After Christopher Reeve's accident in 1995, I was so deeply touched by his attitude. Of course he could have given up and cursed life for giving him a raw deal but he didn't. But consider this if hadn't have been so brave and positive do you really think he would have survived for so long as he did? And deep down we all admire him for having such a positive attitude and inspiring us all.

As I finish this article, no matter what happens to us, we can choose positive thoughts and choose a positive attitude. It may not be something that we were all born with but it's a way of looking at the brighter side of life that helps us build the life we want.

You could sum it up in one word, and that one would be "Faith".

Article Source: http://bestdailyarticles.com

NK5

to NK5