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Safe Log ins

People log in to websites backwards. This causes them all sorts of problems. Email gets hacked. Passwords lost. Problems logging in. All this will end if you create your passwords and log in to important sites frontwards, instead of backwards.

1. Never create your username and password online!
Here is the first problem people have. They go to a website and setup their account. This is not the right way to do it. Begin setting up your account, then open your password manager. I strongly recommend KeePass, but Lastpass and Roboform are also excellent. Create your hoped for username in your password program and then copy it to the site. Let your password program generate a long random password. There is no reason for you to know what it is. Copy it from your password program into your new account. This way you are absolutely sure that the password that is in KeePass (or your other password manager), is the same as the one on the site.

Next copy the sign-in URL, the place you would bookmark, to your KeePass URL slot. Now your username and password will always be in your password manager, because they were there before they were on the site. They are always right. So is the log in URL.

2. Enter the site from your password program, not from your browser.
When you want to go to your online bank site or your website sign in, or your webmail sign in, open your password program and click the link to that site. Now, either copy and paste, drag and drop or Auto-Type your login. Again, you don't need to be concerned about what your password is. It can be very long and complicated without causing you any trouble.

The Auto-Type log in feature in KeePass is very cool. It will allow you to simply press Ctrl-ALT-A to automatically sign in. I use it for the places I frequently visit. I have written an article about setting it up here: http://steveshank.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?aid=360 and have a YouTube video demonstrating it here: http://www.screencast.com/t/sMR3KscYV7VB

Both RoboForm and Lastpass have even more automatic log in abilities.
 

Date: February 2013


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This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

 
 
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