Network Security Tips: 12345 Will Not Fool A Hacker

The amount of Internet-savvy people can probably now overtake the people who do not know how to protect themselves from the harmful bad things on the Internet. Instead of leaving them to eat my dust, here are a few very helpful Network Security Tips regarding the importance of passwords. How are people expected to pick a safe password if they have no idea why it needs to be safe?
The Sad Truth
This should be obvious to everyone by now, but sadly it is not. There are still plenty of people who use "abc123" as their password and find no problem with it. According an article published in the News Observer on January 21, 2011, the most popular password when the Internet was first becoming popular was "12345." Today it is a hardly safer "123456." The fact is simple: predictable passwords will not fool hackers...because they are PREDICTABLE. Other passwords that made the top twenty list included "qwerty","abc123," and "princess."
Choosing a Strong Password
When choosing a password, you have to think to yourself, "Would anyone ever be able to guess this?" Not only that, you have to think, "Would anyone be able to randomly guess this?" This does not equal, "This is so simple! No one would think I would choose something as simple as 'baseball' for my password." The misconception about hackers figuring out passwords is that it is very time-consuming. With the speed of computers and programs today, a hacker can belt out thousands of passwords a minute without breaking a sweat. The best type of password contains numbers and letters that have no apparent meaning. If non-alphanumeric characters are allowed, even better. A good example of a strong password would be "#3cartruck$48." An even better password would be "1m$23S752Mxha09" because it contains a random mix of all types of characters with no meaning behind them. This is just a few of many Network Security Tips that can help protect your computer.
Password Everything
Many people tend to get their router setup and think, "It will just be easier if I leave my router password-free in case I forget my password." This is true, but think about how much safer it is to have it protected against anyone on the outside that you do not want leeching from your connection. The same goes for a laptop computer's login screen. It being a laptop means that it will, at some point, be moved around. That time could be at a coffee shop where, just for a second you leave your computer alone. Forgetting the fact that it could be stolen, it could just as easily be downloaded onto a USB flash drive and, unlike the laptop being completely stolen, you would not even notice until it was too late.

Passwords are one of the simplest forms of protection against having your information stolen. It only takes a few minutes to pick a strong password, so if you listen to nothing else, listen to these Network Security Tips. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jo_Kro