Free Internet Security: How To Make Your Passwords Air Tight

There are many ways to utilize free Internet security measures that do not involve downloading special software or paying money for spyware programs. One such free Internet security tip is breaking the habit of using the same passwords when accessing personal information and secure areas on your computer.

As more and more of your personal and financial life becomes accessible to the virtual world, changing up your passwords to make them rock-solid can keep your information secure. Let's face it, depending on the name of your pet or the nicknames of your family members just won't cut it anymore.

Password Basics

If you read up on any articles written by experts in the field of free Internet security, they will all say the same thing: that 90% of computer users are accessing personal and private information, specifically financial information (bank account numbers, social security numbers, routine access codes, etc.) with totally inadequate protection from hackers and identity theft.

That is because today's hacking programs have become amazingly intelligent. And it is still easy for old hacking programs to guess the type of passwords that you are probably using.

Pet names, children's names, nick names, favorite colors, etc., are all simple for a hacker to try to guess, especially if your computer has been previously scanned by spyware that retrieved data on your keyword strokes. Free Internet security starts with changing your password habits.

Easy passwords will get you in trouble, but those harder passwords run the risk of being written down and somehow lost into the hands of someone that may use them against you (specifically at the office). However, there are a few tricks that can be used to help you come up with more protective passwords that are both complicated against hackers but easy for you to remember.

Free Internet Security Password Tip #1

First and foremost, never use the same password twice, even if it is a strong password that contains dozens of hard-to-remember characters. If you happen to use a password more than once then all access areas from those passwords are compromised. Any online accounts or private data will be at risk of full exposure.

This is by far the best technique against security problems. Remember, hacking programs use the information they can get in order to bust into similar protected areas. So if a password has been found it will automatically attempt to use the same password over and over again.

Free Internet Security Password Tip #2

Always mix your passwords with both letters and numbers, using upper case and lower case letters, and spread out a few symbols to the mix to make your passwords air tight.

What is the point of going through all of this trouble? Because hacking programs are designed to automatically cycle through every possible known word in a matter of minutes. This includes spelling them backwards and forward.

A perfect example of using the free Internet security password tips as described above would taking an average password like mycupdog and making it My_C@p1Dog$.