While not totally related to law, I recently read an entry on the Official Google Blog on password safety. As a trial lawyer, I try and focus on helping injured persons and businesses. One way to minimize becoming injured is to prevent yourself (or your company) from becoming the victim of identity theft online.
One of the first steps in protecting yourself and your family on the Internet is password safety. As explained by
- Avoid common elements when choosing your password (e.g. making your password the word “password”, using your birthday, your social security number, your phone number, etc.)
- Make your password unique (combine upper and lower case letters, use a $ for an s, or a 1 for l)
- Use different passwords for different sites (that way, if someone gets your email password, they may not get your banking password, or vice versa)
- No sharing of passwords. Not to family, friends, or co-workers
- If you suspect your password has been discovered, change it. Immediately.
Keeping your password safe may not necessarily keep you free from injury and identity theft, but it’s one way to minimize the odds of online injury.
