Computer Security Archives - Page 2 of 4

How to create really secure passwords that are easy to remember

Posted on December 4, 2021

One of the most difficult tasks in computing is choosing a password that is both hard for hackers to crack and easy to remember.

It’s quite quite easy to do one or the other, but doing both at the same time can be a headache. But it doesn’t have to be.

Lots of folks rely on password managers to help keep their online accounts secure, but I don’t recommend that because using a password manager puts your entire digital life at risk.

The good news is you don’t need to use a password manager in order to create extremely secure (and unique) passwords for each of your online accounts – and remember easily them!

This post explains how to do just that. [Read more…]

7 tips for safely sharing your computer with guests during the holiday season

Posted on November 11, 2019

Are you expecting to have guests staying at your home at any time during the holiday season?

If so, it’s possible that one or more of them might ask to borrow your computer to check their email, get on Facebook, or do whatever it is they enjoy doing online.

There’s really nothing wrong with allowing a visitor to use your computer, but there are a few things you might want to do before your guests arrive: [Read more…]

Think password managers are safe? Truth be told, they’re quite dangerous.

Posted on February 12, 2018

Many of the web’s most widely respected tech experts recommend using a password manager such as KeePass to store all of your online passwords. I don’t recommend them however, and after reading this post you will understand why.

A typical password manager will store all of your passwords in an encrypted database. In order to “open” the database to extract a needed password you’ll have to enter a master password.

This sounds like a great idea for storing and protecting a bunch of unique passwords without having to remember them all, and the concept is indeed a great one. But unfortunately it is seriously flawed. Here’s why: [Read more…]

How to hide and password protect folders in Windows

Posted on July 10, 2017

Important update: Chrome and Firefox have both started flagging the tool I recommend in this post as malware. I believe this to be a clear case of a false positive but I have removed the links just to be safe.

Original post continues below… [Read more…]

Do you hate dealing with passwords? Before long you might not have to.

Posted on December 10, 2014

Passwords have been the primary means of authenticating the identities of computer users for decades, but that might not be the case for too much longer.

A consortium known as The FIDO Alliance (aka Fast IDentity Online) has just released specifications for alternate methods of verifying a user’s identity using biometric sensors and physical identity tokens. [Read more…]