Death To Spammers!

[Devezu]

People, people. Remember - ABCD1234!@#$_

Passwords have to be alphanumeric, with punctuation marks, and be 13 characters or longer, as well as have a space (if allowed)

[prfsnl_gmr]

You must - and I mean you must - put in a fraud alert to each of the major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). You do not want your credit impacted because some jerk was stealing your information. (You might also want your dad to do this if his information has been compromised.) A fraud alert will last for 90 days, and it will basically keep people from opening new credit card accounts in your name without your knowledge.

Also, and on a related point, can anyone on here recommend a good free anti-spyware program to use on Windows 7? I loved Spybot Search and Destroy, but, to my knowledge, it does not work on Windows 7. Thanks for the recommendation.

[GSZX1337]

Also, and on a related point, can anyone on here recommend a good free anti-spyware program to use on Windows 7? I loved Spybot Search and Destroy, but, to my knowledge, it does not work on Windows 7. Thanks for the recommendation.

I normally use AVG Free Edition.

[gtmtnbiker]

I personally use a mix of different characters for my password. I have a few different passwords depending if I want ok security (e.g, racketboy forums), very good security (ebay, amazon), or extreme security (brokerage & bank accounts). I also vary the password slightly based on the url of the website. Lastly, I will substitute non-alphanumeric characters for letters. Here is an example: r&ck3tb0y - & for a, 3 for e, 0 for o. You could make your own rules such as * for vowels, whatever. Just try to come up with a few algorithms that you can remember. It goes without saying, to not use any personal data (family names, ssn numbers, etc) in your passwords.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Awesome. I got AVG. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Niode]

I personally use a mix of different characters for my password. I have a few different passwords depending if I want ok security (e.g, racketboy forums), very good security (ebay, amazon), or extreme security (brokerage & bank accounts). I also vary the password slightly based on the url of the website. Lastly, I will substitute non-alphanumeric characters for letters. Here is an example: r&ck3tb0y - & for a, 3 for e, 0 for o. You could make your own rules such as * for vowels, whatever. Just try to come up with a few algorithms that you can remember. It goes without saying, to not use any personal data (family names, ssn numbers, etc) in your passwords.

Don't forget that you could have the most secure password in the world, but if you have a keylogger (hardware or software) then they can still gain access. This is one of the reasons why you should never log into a secure website on a public computer. It's so easy to fit a hardware keylogger on a computer. Best of all, it's impossible to detect by the system, it simply won't know it's there, unless somebody physically checks behind the system at where the keyboard is plugged in.

If you were really crafty you could simply switch the keyboards with an identical one that has had the keylogger fitted inside the case. If I needed to do this kind of thing then that's how I would do it.

[nikon_62]

Ok I don't like doing work stuff on sites that arn't work related but you folks at racketboy are always nice to me so here is a quick guide to identity theft reaction.

1. If any money over $50 is spent out of any account without your authorization file a police report.

2. If one thing is compromised EVERYTHING is compromised. Call fraud alert on all of your cards and get new cards with new numbers issued today.

3. Change every password to EVERY online account you have to an alpha numeric password with meta characters. I use Keepass password manager to do this http://keepass.info/ but use whatever works for you.

4. Use a different username and password for every website you have an account with.

5. If your a Windows user you need to get antivirus and anti spyware installed and updated. Make sure to run full scans once you have those installed and updated.

6. If your a Windows user install all of the current Windows updates

I realize this sounds like a big pain and it is but if someone has just a small amount of your info they can keep getting into accounts over and over. Just take care of it all at once so you can be sure everything is covered. I've watched people go round and round with identity theft for months before taking these steps.

[gtmtnbiker]

Don't forget that you could have the most secure password in the world, but if you have a keylogger (hardware or software) then they can still gain access. This is one of the reasons why you should never log into a secure website on a public computer.

Yes, good point to keep in mind. Fortunately, I don't use public computers for that sort of stuff as I have my laptop with me.

I like the interface that my ING Direct bank has. You use a mouse to click on a virtual keypad to enter your password. This makes it harder to log.