Your online banking password is the key to your personal and financial information. If criminals know your password, they can use it to steal from you or pose as you in online transitions. This simple ebook will provide you with some simple tips to make your online banking experience safer.
Criminals will always gravitate towards the easiest money. The more barriers that you can put into place, the more likely the criminal will go elsewhere. The reason all financial institutions implemented new login procedures (known as multifactor authentication) a few years ago was to add a layer of security and deter criminals from your online account. Criminals adjust and so should you.
Here are some easy Do’s and Don’ts that you can use to steer criminals elsewhere:
Do’s
- Install a reputable antivirus software program on all computers and keep them current update
This is the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself. While we do not endorse or recommend a particular product, some good solutions are Internet Security packages available from makers such as: Norton, McAfee, or Kapersky. - Make your password as long and complex as possible
The online banking system generally will permit you to create a password up to 8 characters long. - Make it easy to remember, but hard to guess
Use a combination of letters and numbers that you know, but that wouldn’t make sense to others. Combine initials and important numbers and, if you are feeling particularly adventurous, a special character such as @ or # or $ or & or *. A good password could be 17dg*wm4. How can you make a similar combination work for you? - Use more than one password
Use a generic password for low-risk situations such as a newspaper website where there is little risk to you if someone figures it out. Not every website warrants the same level of protection as your online banking website. To make your ever-growing list of passwords more manageable, consider using a general-purpose password for websites that do not contain personal or financial information, and creating a unique, secure password for each website that does, such as online banking. - Use trustworthy computers
Shared public computers like those in airport lounges, Internet cafes, public libraries, and hotel lobbies could be connected to keystroke loggers or infected with password-stealing viruses. Don’t use them to access online banking or other websites containing confidential information about you.
Don’ts
- Never e-mail your password or respond to an e-mailed request for your password or other confidential information
Generally Bank will never ask you to submit confidential information in an e-mail. E-mail travels the Internet in much the same way as a postcard travels through the U.S. Mail. There is no “envelope” to protect the contents from prying eyes. There is no reason for anyone but you to know your password ever. Requests for your passwords via e-mail are most assuredly scams. - Do not include your login name in your password
Similarly, any part of your login name is a poor choice for a password. - Avoid predictable sequences of characters, such as “1234” or “abcd”, in your password
Automated password crackers often start by guessing predictable sequences such as these. - Avoid dictionary words or names Words in any language can be determined by automated password crackers that also contain multi-lingual dictionaries.
Similarly, password crackers also contain lists of names used as possible passwords. No one else may remember the name of your high school sweetheart, but if his or her name is on the list, your password may be vulnerable.
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November 25th, 2009 on 8:30 am
Nice Blog Template I like the look of it definitely.
November 28th, 2009 on 5:36 pm
Hey!
Great list and a must read for all.
I have a couple of others to add:
1. Don’t click on links inside emails that come from or appear to come from Banks. Always, always type the banks we address into the browser and access that way.
2. Another tip for stopping criminals is to use a piece of software that actively locks down your web browser in addition to a antivirus package when your doing your online banking. My brother banks with Zions bank and they gave him some software called trusteer (or rapport? can’t remember which) and it can stop things that the antivirus can miss.
Thats my two pennies worth
Charles, Portland, Oregon