Take Care with your Passwords!

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Password safety is something you need to be concerned about. You probably check your email or do something online that requires the use of a password or two. Passwords protect your privacy and allow you to do things online like getting and sending emails, applying for jobs, filing your taxes, renewing your library books, and much more.

So what's the big deal? What are the dangers of having someone else know or find out your password?

Identity Theft. If someone gains enough information about you to set up and abuse credit in your name, it will become your responsibility to prove that you didn't make those purchases or do those things. This can be a nightmare.
Your email account could be used to spread spam (junk mail), or viruses to your friends or others. In such a case your email provider would probably shut down your account eventually and anyone you had given your email to (including possible employers) would lose that way to contact you.
Embarrassing statements could be sent out as if YOU had said them on your email, Facebook©, MySpace© , or other service.
Anyone gaining access to your bank account or credit card passwords could drain your account and max out your cards and leave you with nothing to live on.

So what steps can I take to protect my passwords?

Make a strong password to begin with! A strong password should be at least 14 characters, not a word, include both upper-case letters and numbers or symbols. AND you should be able to remember it without trouble! Starting with a sentence or a line from a song and using the first letter of each word can be a start. Then mix in numbers, capital letters and symbols where they make sense to you and try logging in and out several times with a new account before you begin using it. Write it down someplace only you can get to. The criminals and vandals out there in cyberspace have password cracking programs that allow them to quickly go through the entire dictionary in many languages and the most common password lists as well to guess your password.
Don't share your password with anyone! Don't even say it aloud. If you have to for some reason, change it immediately after that time.
Don't use the same password for all your accounts. Please don't change your PIN on your library card to match your bank card. It's such a bad idea that it makes us want to cry.
If you are logging into anything on a public computer, make sure that you both LOG OFF And Close the Browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox on our computers) before you leave.If you leave your accounts open in an open window there is the chance that the next user can steal your personal information, make embarrassing statements, etc or even change your password and hijack your account.