Article 13 - Passwords

Use of Passwords / Password Security

When visiting a customer recently, I was told that their EBay account had been hijacked, despite the use of a password which was thought to provide security. Passwords do provide some security, but not total security. Following the rules below will help to increase the security provided by your passwords:

Do NOT use words which can be found in a dictionary.

Computers are able to test every word in the dictionary, however obscure, when trying to gain access to your account / computer. People wanting to hijack an account are able to use such programs.

Do NOT use names of people.

Again, many names are included with words in dictionaries.

Combine letters and numbers in the password

Using numbers in the middle of the password is an improvement on numbers at the end of the word. For example, replace the letter 's' with the number '5' (pa55word).

Use a combination of upper and lower case letters

Passwords can be case sensitive, so the letter "A" is different to "a". Using upper case letters in the middle of your password makes it more difficult for the password to be discovered (e.g. pasSWord). Note that some internet service providers specify that the password should be all lower case.

When possible, use characters such as open and close brackets in the password.

For example, "()" (open and close brackets together) can be used instead of the letter "O" or a zero. Note that not all service providers allow these characters in passwords.

Change your password from time to time

This is a precautionary measure in case someone has discovered your password.

Keep your password secret.

Following these rules will make it far more difficult for people / computers to discover your password.

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