Protect your cloud accounts
Well, all online services use encryption to protect digital content. And these algorithms - while not completely hackproof - are rather hard to break into. In fact, hackers are more likely to breach online security because of our own carelessness.
Most of us, for instance, use the same passwords for all our accounts. This means if hackers get into one of our accounts, they'll soon have access to all others. So the first step is to create strong passwords, and different ones for each of our logins.
For a good password ...
l The longer the better. And avoid names, birth dates and anniversaries of loved ones, pets, phone numbers, favourite film stars and musicians.
l Include upper and lower case alphabets, numerals, as well as special characters (!@#$%^&*).
l Try using phrases with words interspersed by special characters and numerals. And perhaps words from two different languages. This will make it easier to remember, but harder to guess.
Example: Jalebis#are*sweet2 l You might want to consider free services like passwordsgenerator.net or strongpasswordgenerator.org.
Simple. Use a dedicated password manager - programs that save all your passwords in an encrypted form so that no one, except you, can access them.
Of course, you'll need to remember one master password to access all those others. Here, you can consider LastPass (lastpass.com), KeePass (keepass.info) and PassPack (www. passpack.com).
Two-step authentication
Now, just having a strong password is not enough. On many online services, including Dropbox, Facebook, iCloud, Google, Microsoft OneDrive and Twitter, you can activate twostep authentication (look for this feature under password and security settings for your account).
With two-step, after you type your password, you will be asked to enter a one-time code that's either been sent to your registered e-mail address or phone number. Hackers without access to your handset or e-mail inbox will not be able to log into your accounts.
The second benefit of two-step authentication is that you are automatically notified on your device or e-mail whenever a break-in attempt has been made on your account, allowing you to quickly log in and change your password.
Well, all online services use encryption to protect digital content. And these algorithms - while not completely hackproof - are rather hard to break into. In fact, hackers are more likely to breach online security because of our own carelessness.
Most of us, for instance, use the same passwords for all our accounts. This means if hackers get into one of our accounts, they'll soon have access to all others. So the first step is to create strong passwords, and different ones for each of our logins.
For a good password ...
l The longer the better. And avoid names, birth dates and anniversaries of loved ones, pets, phone numbers, favourite film stars and musicians.
l Include upper and lower case alphabets, numerals, as well as special characters (!@#$%^&*).
l Try using phrases with words interspersed by special characters and numerals. And perhaps words from two different languages. This will make it easier to remember, but harder to guess.
Example: Jalebis#are*sweet2 l You might want to consider free services like passwordsgenerator.net or strongpasswordgenerator.org.
Simple. Use a dedicated password manager - programs that save all your passwords in an encrypted form so that no one, except you, can access them.
Of course, you'll need to remember one master password to access all those others. Here, you can consider LastPass (lastpass.com), KeePass (keepass.info) and PassPack (www. passpack.com).
Two-step authentication
Now, just having a strong password is not enough. On many online services, including Dropbox, Facebook, iCloud, Google, Microsoft OneDrive and Twitter, you can activate twostep authentication (look for this feature under password and security settings for your account).
With two-step, after you type your password, you will be asked to enter a one-time code that's either been sent to your registered e-mail address or phone number. Hackers without access to your handset or e-mail inbox will not be able to log into your accounts.
The second benefit of two-step authentication is that you are automatically notified on your device or e-mail whenever a break-in attempt has been made on your account, allowing you to quickly log in and change your password.
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