Seniors and the Art of Managing Computer Passwords
Karl Edmunds, Security - Home and Personal, SENIOR LIVING, SENIOR PRODUCTS |
Seniors Mastering Computers
:: by Karl Edmunds ::
If you can remember way back in your life, even before Al Gore invented the internet, the technical part of your life wasn’t that tough. You had a basic phone and a black and white television with three basic channels.
With the internet, more and more sites want a username and password to gain access. And while the protection and security is wonderful, I can make up user names and passwords much easier than I can remember them. The problem is real and the impact to numerous seniors is escalating.
Estimates suggest that a person with a reasonable activity level on the internet will consume in excess of 10,000 hours annually trying to recover lost passwords and usernames, creating new ones or talking with a “customer support” center that is supposed to able to fix the problem. And this waste of time doesn’t assume your password is lost or stolen. Then the hours of lost time jumps big time.
What can begin as an online adventure into fun and learning can quickly become a nightmare if you don’t take some basic precautions.
You may think a good note pad or spreadsheet, if you can use one, is the solution. But soon it will look like some form of chicken scratch from changes made by personal choice or by requirement.
The best solution is to download a free or low cost software program that allows you to manage all your security information and keep the information safe and accessible wherever you are.
Some key features to consider when evaluating password software:
- You should be able to simply download the software directly without any technical installation process;
- You should be able to manage the entire program with one master username and password;
- It’s portable
- The software should work with all the primary internet search providers e.g. Google, Internet Explorer, Firefox, iPhones and iPods, Touch and Google Chrome, Blackberry, Symbian, Palm and other tech search and mobile platforms.
Now here is an extremely important tip: Never type your master password when accessing any of the software programs. There are spyware programs that can record your keystrokes.
Here is what to do:
Open a Notepad file (.txt). Type your password into the text file; Then copy, paste into the space provided on the password software. And the last important tip–Never lose your master password! Some of the leading password programs to check out are:
- Roboform (free or paid version) www.roboform,com
- My Last Pass Vault (free) www.mylastpass.com
Finally when you are facing the computer screen, trying to think creatively about a password, try this. Think of the title or words from a song or poem that you have loved your whole life and have no trouble remembering anytime. For example, I may recall “With every rising of the sun, think of your life as just begun” Then I simply take the first letter of each word for my password. In this case you get WEROTSTOYLAJB. Nobody will ever break this simple code.
As always…Be Careful Out There.
About the Author
For more than 20 years, Karl Edmunds has been a noted author within the business and management consulting arena. As a senior, he now engages his curiosity and observations about life to write about key issues of importance to the growing community of seniors (Boomers), and the value of living life to the fullest every single day. We welcome your comments and suggestions at <a title=”For-Seniors.org” href=”http://for-seniors.org” target=”_blank”>http://For-Seniors.org</a>
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