PC ProSchools – TechTalk

Do you have multiple user names and passwords? If you use the Internet, the answer is yes. According to Webroot’s survey, passwords are used by Banks, personal email systems and Facebook to safe guard your personal information. Many people use weak passwords and have poor password practices.

Webroot discovered that:

• 4 out 10 people share their passwords with another person.
• Many people use the same password to log on to multiple web sites, which exposes them to hacking and identity theft.
• 2 in 10 people use personal information like a birth date, child’s or pet’s name as a password. This information may be publicly visible on social networks like Facebook.
• About 30 percent of people write their passwords down and store them in a desk drawer.

XKCD illustrates the problem with reusing passwords.

How to make and use secure passwords

1. Don’t use personal information in your password. Personal information like a pet’s name, child’s name, your birth date or favorite color may be available on social networks. A criminal could use Google to find this information out and gain access to your accounts.
2. Make your password unique and easy to remember. Use a pass phrase. Most password cracking tools are sophisticated enough to use dictionary words and character substitutions like @. Think of a phrase or quote that you can easily remember, such as “When in doubt, reboot”. Take the first letter of each word, use a mix of upper and lower case letters and apply some extra characters. Your password could be “WidR!7GO”.
3. Don’t share your passwords. If your boss, friend, cousin or even spouse ask you for your password, say No. Once you share your password, you don’t know who else will get your password and what they may do with it. If you have shared a password, remember to change so that only you have the new password.
4. Use one password per site, computer and mobile devices. Don’t reuse passwords. It may be convenient for you to use the same password, but it makes it easier for a criminal to steal your identity when you use the same password for your online accounts.
5. Change your passwords periodically. Make a habit of changing your passwords at least once a year.
6. Use a Password Manager. A Password Manager can help you to store all of your passwords in a safe place.

Check the strength of your password

Use howsecureismypassword.net to test how long it would take to crack your password. Just enter your password and it displays how long it would take a desktop password cracking to break you password.

Currently there is a debate going on in our country about Net Neutrality over whether there should be some agency governing the internet.  The side that wants regulation says that it can curb some of the illegal activities that occur on the internet and regulate the providers from handing out a rate increase for no good reason. The opposite side says that for years the Internet has been an open source of information and a regulating policy will mean limited access to the extensive source of information and slow innovation.

Last September FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined actions he believes should be taken to preserve the free and open Internet. He said, “The Internet is an extraordinary platform for innovation, job creation, investment, and opportunity. It has unleashed the potential of entrepreneurs and enabled the launch and growth of small businesses across America. It is vital that we safeguard the free and open Internet.”

• Consumers are entitled to access whatever lawful internet content they want.
• Consumers are entitled to run whatever applications and services they want, subject to the needs of law enforcement.
• Consumers can connect to networks whatever legal devices they want, so long as they do not harm them.
• Consumers are entitled to competition between networks, applications, services and content providers.
• Service providers are not allowed to discriminate between applications, services and content outside of reasonable network management.
• Service providers must be transparent about the network management practices they use.

On  September 7^th the US Court of Appeals ruled in favor  of Comcast in saying that the  FCC does not have the authority to require Comcast, a major Internet provider, to treat all Internet traffic and access the same on its network.  This could lead to your internet provider charging you more to access some web content than others, or content providers might have to go through the same type of contract negotiations as providers do with Cable systems, this could lead to you not being able to access your favorite website while they negotiate.

SeaMicro, a startup server company, launched its low power server. The server runs on 512 Intel Atom chips and promises to reduce power costs and provide supercomputer performance. The server is intended for companies running internet services and cloud computing. SeaMicro wants to “revolutionize the data center landscape”.

To learn more, read Ars Technica’s “New “atomic” server: 512 Atom CPUs take on Xeons”.