Strong Passwords: Computer Security That Is Customer Friendly Too By Michael Granger At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

A very common sight in almost every workstation in every office is the list of the user’s passwords and login ID, neatly kept under the keyboard.

The hidden list of passwords throws light on a dark and unavoidable truth about the use of networked computers. Both careless users and over-confidence in one’s knowledge of security policies in the field of Information Technology work in unison to disarm strict security measures.

Mostly, IT security schemes and usability are at war. Many users refuse to adhere to policies that apparently seem complicated and too-technical. At the logon screen, which acts as the point of entry to a secure computer program, the breach between IT methods and user dutifulness becomes glaring.

Let us begin by defining what is known as an effective password.

Webopedia defines a password as a combination of alphabets and/or numbers (and sometimes, symbols) that is not easily detectable by both human users and computer programs. The main purpose is to protect data from unauthorized usage as effectively as possible. A strong password consists of a minimum of six characters (the more the characters, the stronger the password). A case-sensitive password, a combination of both uppercase and lowercase letters, is a stronger password. Strong passwords usually avoid words found in the dictionary and also do not contain parts of the user’s name.

Customers are typically reluctant to use passwords that are difficult to remember. For example, you will most probably prefer parrott5 to 1Xc%&27m3. The question here is which password is stronger?

The key factor that determines a really strong password here is adequate technical education. End-users should be able to gauge the gravity of computer and IT security. Professionals should be able to cater to the requirements of their user base.

Passwords should never belong to any serialization, such as parrott1, parrott2, parrott3... A password should be easy to memorize but not one that is found in the dictionary. Ideally, a combination of two or more words with a mixture of uppercase and lowercase alphabets makes a strong password.

IT professionals may beg to differ on this flow of thought. But it is better to use a password that cannot be easily hacked.

However, no matter how strong a password you use and knowing very well that they are crucial to computer security, are they the last word in controlling access to secure programs? In the next section, we go on to describe a far superior security tool.

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