Busting Scams - From HYIPs to Identity Theft Insurance

Hopefully you've heard a million times already some of the basic guidelines about passwords.  It's amazing to me how people continue to ignore the warnings out of sheer laziness.  To wit:

• Use messy combinations of random letters and numbers
• At least 8 characters (if permitted)
• Never the same at any two sites
• Doesn't use any obviously meaningful components (e.g. dates, initials, names)
• Has nothing to do with your bankcard PIN(s)
• Never written down anywhere someone else good see or find
• Not stored in plain text on any computer device

Problem is, how in the world are you supposed to remember your passwords (not to mention your usernames)?

There is really only one answer:  use a password manager like RoboForm, preferably Roboform2Go.  Change the settings so that ALL passwords are ALWAYS protected by the master password.  For the master password, come up with a sentence you can remember and use the first letter from each word (minimum 8 words); alternatively pick three RANDOM words and type them together, e.g. "carbunnytree."  Store your account data on a secure removable storage device, and make encrypted backups of it once per week. 

And please, whatever e-mail you use for your important accounts MUST have a very strong password, since many sites will send your password to your registered e-mail account.

See below for links.