David Risley is the founder of PCMech.com. He is the brains, the thinker, the writer, the nerd.Online security is, undoubtedly, a hot topic today. In fact you may have upwards of 10 programs to protect you from online threats. However, the most important factor of online security is often overlooked, your passwords.
I am continually amazed by how people will have firewalls, anti-virus and 30 anti-spyware programs, yet use their dog’s name as their bank password. The biggest online threat is not people hacking into your computer, rather it is them compromising your identity.
As a general rule of thumb, your password should meet all of the following criteria:
- at least 8 characters in length
- contain at least 1 number
- contain upper and lower case letters
- contain 1 special character, such as: ! & * % $ @ # +
- be changed at least once a year
By following the above guidelines, you are taking a good step towards protecting yourself online.
Read more about how to create a good password: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_password]
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Rich Menga, a native New Englander residing in Tampa Bay Florida, 
