Watch Out

The Internet is a scary place.

It's a place filled with hackers who only have one intention, to harm you. Its enough to make you wonder... is there's a bad-guy out there every time you turn on your computer; that some evil-doer is lurking around in cyberspace just waiting to get you; Someone that wants to steal your money, your car, your house and even your golf clubs.   

This morning a paranoid New York Times Technology reporter wrote an interesting article on ways to stop hackers. "Paranoid?" Yep, this reporter openly admits to putting masking tape over her computers webcam. Now, that's being a little paranoid. 

For the article, the paranoid NYT reporter (who shall remain nameless here) contacted two other paranoid technology experts (who shall also remain nameless here) and asked for suggestions on how to protect computer passwords. Obviously, this wasn't done over Skype, since all three probably have their web-cameras taped over.

Here are some of the expert's suggestions for password protection:

Forget the Dictionary: According to the experts" If your password can be found in a dictionary, you might as well not have one". I'm done! But, I wonder if this includes the Urban dictionary too or if "whazzup" would be a good password?

Come up With A Passphrase: The first thing I thought was "What the heck is a passphrase, Is it some secret code word or something?" No!, the experts advise you to think of your favorite movie quote and piece together the first letters of each word into a passphrase... so, "I'm your worst nightmare" would create a password of, "Iywn".

Just Jam on Your Keyboard: LOL, I love this one...This is exactly what it sounds like, just start banging away on the keyboard randomly,..I'm going to try it right now. Here goes... "thldionfglsbrjlkdjtgn"...wow, I'll bet even an expert hacker couldn't remember that password.

Ignore Security Questions: The experts say, do not answer "security questions" accurately. It really isn't that hard for a good hacker to figure out your graduating high school and then use it to change your password from thldionfglsbrjlkdjtgn to skemghikleldkgnkjr. Instead, they suggest you actually answer a security question with another question. Example: "What high school did you attend?" Answer..."What do you care?" (I'm just joking).

Never Use the Same Password Twice: Unless its thldionfglsbrjlkdjtgn or skemghikleldkgnkjr, of course.

Seriously, password protection is important, and effective means should be taken to maintain your security.