Password Security

With the holiday online buying season gearing up, it’s a good time to think about your online security. Mashable just published a list of the 25 Worst Passwords of 2011.  If any of your passwords are on the list, you might want to think about changing things up a bit. Lifehacker has some great tips for picking and remembering passwords.

Some have turned to password management software to help keep track of their many passwords.  The major issue with such programs is that you must download the software and can only access it from that single device. 

An alternative to downloading password management software might be Open ID, which allows you to sign into websites with a universal ID and password.  You can choose to use an account that you’ve already created.  Some of the more well known OpenID providers include Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Microsoft, AOL, and Twitter.  If you have one of these accounts, you already have an OpenID identity.