Ok, it’s time to have a serious conversation about your computer security. When 6.5 million passwords were hacked at LinkedIn, we all had a wake up call about our passwords and web habits. One of the most common mistakes we make, besides picking passwords that are too easy, is that we use the same password for multiple sites. And if a bad guy has our username and password from one site, he could try the password out on other sites and eventually get to some pretty valuable information.
YUCK!
It’s time to truly take charge of your password and internet security issues. LastPass is a free, cloud-based tool that allows you to create one master password to gain access to all your sites. Further, I love that as soon as you install it, it scrapes all the sites in your browser history to show you just how many you have and how insecure you really are.
I am registered on 121 sites right now, and 81 of those had the same password. What’s more, this password was one I had been using since at least 2005, the six‐letter name of a family member. Bad, bad nerd! I downloaded LastPass, and I’m slowly working my way through all the sites, replacing the ridiculously easy passwords with LastPass‐generated ones that, according to howsecureismypassword.net, would take password‐hacking software more than a year to figure out.
It’s a little disconcerting to put everything in LastPass’ hands, but cnet, PCWorld and lifehacker all give it a thumbs up.
My advice: Computer security can’t wait until you have a free afternoon to spare. Make time to make these changes this week so you can rest assured that you’re a little safer online.
LastPass and How Secure is My Password made Beth’s Top Security list!
Here’s a video overview of LastPass:
LastPass – Password Manager, Form Filler, Password Management.
Thanks a ton for this! I have been meaning to update passwords for a loooooonnnnnnggg time and this will definitely help in that process.