• Creating a secure password
  
  
• How to protect yourself against identity theft
  
  
• Wireless networking basics
  
  
• How to create mp3s and burn CDs using media players
  
  
• How to protect your computer from power surges
  
  
• Know when to upgrade your video card
  
  
• Know when to upgrade your memory or hard drive
  
  
• How to choose your next computer
  
  
• What is broadband and do I need it
  
  
• What is VoIP and should I choose it

Creating a secure password

Why Are Passwords Required?

While you might consider passwords a pain to create and even more painful to remember, the internet would be a free for all regarding your personal information without them. Without passwords, your bank account, e-mail account, and other information would be an open book. People would assume your identity causing you legal trouble (i.e. being blamed for something you didn't do, such as breaking user agreements, or hacking into a government/company computer system under the guise of being you, resulting in prosecution), or cause you financial trouble (i.e. clean out your bank account(s) or cause you major headaches with credit card fraud).

Problem With Creating Easy To Remember Passwords

The passwords that you create should be something that no one could ever guess. Don't give in to the temptation to make passwords too easy, and don't use the same password for everything. If a hacker is able to crack your password for one thing, that is the first password they'll use in attempt to gain access to the rest of your protected information.

General Rules For Creating Passwords

The most commonly used rules for creating passwords are as follows, but they may change depending on the program or application. Generally passwords are:

• Case Sensitive - This means that the upper-case letter a (A) is not the same as the lower-case letter a (a).
• No Spaces Allowed - Most applications do not allow blank spaces in the word.
• Special Characters - Characters such as a tilde (~) may or may not be allowed. Most applications will advise you if this is the case.
• Length - Most applications will tell you a minimum and maximum length of the password. Although you may be allowed to create a password that is four characters long, for security reasons it is recommended that the minimum length be seven characters.

Creating Passwords That Won't Be Easily Cracked

Here are some general guidelines to create a password:

• Your password should be longer than seven characters
• Mix letters and numbers
• Use upper-case and lower-case letters
• Do not create a password that contains a single word that is in the dictionary
• Do not use your name or a loved ones name
• Use several words together (i.e. redyellowblue)
• Create a phrase (i.e. "I love Spot; he's a good dog," would become 1LSHA6d)

Password strength Checker

Use the tool below to gauge your password strength (NOTE: The password(s) you enter will not be stored on our system):