Simple Security Tips

Do you realize that whenever you log in to your web server using FTP or telnet — or log in to a site via regular HTTP (as compared to HTTPS) — you are passing your password in the clear, where it is subject to being intercepted?

This is just one way that your password can be compromised.

How to get around this?

First, change your password frequently. I’ll talk about a neat (and inexpensive) tool in an upcoming post that makes this extremely easy.

Next, whenever possible, use secure means to connect to other computers on the Internet. We’ll talk about how to do this in an upcoming post.

But for now, just be aware of how you use your passwords. And by all means, NEVER make your password easy to guess!

–Tom

There are a lot of dangerous places on the Internet. You know — sites you wouldn’t want your children to see, sites that download malware on to your computer, sites that can take over your computer without your knowledge, etc.

Here’s a simple trick to help prevent your computer from becoming infected and to better protect it: don’t visit web sites that you don’t know and trust. Sometimes it’s easy to tell if the site is OK; other times it won’t be as obvious. In either case, you can look to see if others trust it (links from other sites are a good indication, and Google can tell you how many sites link to a website). You can also see if there are any bad comments about the site.

And finally, trust your instincts. They usually won’t lead you wrong.

Stay safe,
Tom