rmExperts

The availability of internet memberships and account access is constantly growing. As you add online accounts to your list, you must continue to be safe and secure. You DO NOT want to have the same userid and password for all of your account - or even some of your accounts. This is critical because if you accidentally release (or give away) one userid/password to something as simple as a gaming site, then you just gave your password to your credit card and bank account too! Sure this is tough because you will have to remember all of your userids and passwords - which can be a lot to remember. But, there are some simple things you can do to try and make it as easy as possible.

It starts by coming up with your "base" userid and password - both of which should be easily remembered by you. Once you have the base, it is simple to adjust per site based on your own system. We will use John Quentin Doe who was born on July 24 for our example.

Lets first start with a username - a real easy base username is simply just you first and middle initials and your last name, jqdoe. This username will work for some websites, but what to do if you can't have this username? Or to be more secure, maybe you should have a different username for each account? Among many options is simply adding your birthday (or graduation year, address, etc) - so our username becomes jqdoe0724. Again, this will probably work for most sites... but maybe not all. If it doesn't work, or you want to be more secure and have a unique username for every account, you can build off the base userid. One concept it to simply add the first letter of the website or company name to the end. So the following could be my usernames for different sample accounts:

Now, the more importantly and more secure, the password. We all know the most secure passwords have at least 6 characters and a mixture of letters and numbers (and preferably upper and lower case letters). So, how to come up with a password? Well, there are many random password generators, but often those are hard to remember (but more secure). So why not come up with a secure one that you can remember? Or, you can use a combination of some initials and numbers... say John went to University of Illinois and graduated in 1992. His base password could be uofi1992. Now, similarly to the addition of the letter of the site, we will do the same to the password. So your accounts now become:

So, with this methodology you can build a SECURE username and password system that you can remember ALL of your accounts easily - without other information or documentation! Really, this system is unlimited and can be adjusted by person. You can tweak the placement of the letter, use a different letter, or come up with your own system. Some flaws do exists in this system; such as some sites you can't get that userid or some sites give you a specific username - so you will have to improvise slightly or keep track of some. But this is a small number of cases - and you probably can remember one or two special cases. How many do you remember now?

Alternative Solutions:

• Try and keep same userids... just change passwords. Most sites allow other people to see your userid anyhow, so that doesn't need to be secure.
  Instead of a finding initials and numbers that means something, try creating a sentence, like: I am living in my 3rd house - which taking the first letters would be a password of ialim3h
  
• If you have any version webmail (Hotmail, Yahoo, GMail, etc) - you can store all your registration emails in a special folder so you can access anytime from anywhere. This is also a possible security flaw though if someone can gain access to your email account.
  
• Creating a new sentence or base password should be done probably every 6 months - and you can phase your new passwords into each account as you access them.
  

Please keep in mind that if you have spyware or viruses on your machine, all your work could be for nothing. There are other things you should know - you should constantly have a spyware and anti-virus programs running on your machine. Be aware of fraudulent sites and spoofs - check the URL before entering login information and be wary of emails asking you to follow a link to login. Also, remember not to share your accounts with anyone and generally no company will ever ask for your information.

Really, the alternatives and possibilities are endless... but with a good "base" system you should be able to come up with a system that works for you that you can remember. Te hardest part will be changing all your accounts and password over to the new system! After that, it will be smooth safe sailing.

* Names, accounts, usernames and passwords used in this are not real and are just samples.

Disclaimer: All information presented here is for informational purposes only. Managerial Enterprises, Inc can not be held responsible for any implementations based on the data or information provided. Please contact us if you would like custom information or recommendations.

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