There are items in the news every day about identity theft. The obvious consequence is an unexpected financial disaster. However, it can be worse. There can be crimes committed under a stolen identity and warrants issued for the person who has had his/her identity used. And yet, it can be worse.

Identity theft can be a matter of health and well being. Along with identity theft being a rapidly expanding crime, stolen medical services are increasing. That means that someone uses a stolen identity to obtain medical care. Besides the obvious financial consequences, it can be deadly to the person who has had his/her identity used.

Once a identity is used for medical services, there will be an electronic record. The modern day goal is to have that medical record available to any physician who is treating that person. That means national access. Imagine the health consequences if the electronic medical records are wrong because someone has stolen and used an identity. The consequences can be disastrous.

A common means of identity theft is through your computer and through your passwords. A breach of your password (or passwords) just creates a myriad of problems. To maintain the security of passwords for our readers, Identity Protector with Password Manager from Large Software is recommended.

Wait. Before you say that you don’t need any password manager, here is one of the reasons why we are recommending this program. For the sake of an example, there are some websites that you might visit regularly. Let’s use PayPal. Imagine the damage that an identity thief can do with your PayPal data.
You think that you are careful and savvy but the hackers / criminals who spoof websites such as PayPal are experts at what they do. And regardless of how careful you are, there are times when you are rushed or tired or distracted. Identity thieves bank on these lapses. And some of the phishing websites are identical to the genuine sites. At a quick glance, it becomes impossible to tell the difference from spoofed sites and the genuine sites. Gone are the days of sloppy coding and spelling errors.

What an excellent password manager should do is protect you from phishing sites. The password manager should NOT release your personal data if the site is not legitimate and has been spoofed.

Identity Protector with Password Manager from Large Software does just that. It secures your logins, hides your keystrokes and encrypts your passwords. Password Manager protects your identity and is a significant extra layer of security from phishing attempts. It is a guard from identity theft.

Large Software is giving our visitors a special offer. Until November 4, 2009, Large Software is offering a ten dollar ($10.00) discount on Identity Protector with Password Manager. This is a third off of their regular price and an exceptional price for this outstanding security product.

Password Manager operates with ALL programs and web browsers, including Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox…. With the security issues with browsers, it is simply too risky to allow a browser to hold your confidential password information. Phishing, spoofing and other identity theft methods are becoming much more sophisticated in separating you from your password information. Protect yourself.

At this point, you might say that identity theft isn’t going to happen to you. The recent data from Australia says one in five people are identity theft victims. And don’t say that you are not worried about this because you have no money to steal. You have a reputation. And you have a health record to protect.

• Password and Phishing Protection
• Managing your Passwords: Protection from Phishing / Identity Theft
• Windows Security Software
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy?
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• Is Your Password Strong Enough?
• Vipre Protects Your Computer From Malware
• Safeguard Your Security and Privacy
• Prepare for the New School Year by Protecting Your Information

It always makes me cringe when someone in my live chat room boasts that they are smart enough to not need any protection software on their computer. I shudder when they claim they couldn’t possibly get infected because they watch what they download. Seriously, folks… in this day and age, do you honestly think that’s all there is to it? Have you not listened to anything we’ve been trying to tell you?!

Your machine can get infected in so many more ways besides downloading something malicious. Have you heard of drive-by installers? That is where you visit a site that appears to be harmless and legitimate, and have malicious software install itself to your computer without your even knowing it. You don’t have to download something. You don’t have to click on anything. It just happens. There are even sites that appear to be geared towards kids that will do this.

Often, these pieces of malware don’t even display any symptoms. There aren’t popups, slow downs, or anything of the sort. They just sit quietly on your computer, hidden from view, doing their thing to steal your information. You won’t even know they are there. How, then, can you be 100% sure you are not already infected?

When it comes to keeping your information and identity private, you cannot be too careful. We’ve worked hard over the past several months to bring you some good savings on several different excellent pieces of software, all of which are designed to keep you safe online. Keep in mind that you should never use more than one AntiVirus, one software firewall, and one AntiSpyware program at the same time. You can (and should!) have one of each of those, along with a hardware firewall if at all possible to keep you as protected as humanly possible.

Here, in no particular order, is a listing of the software we recommend you use for yourself.

• SafeBit Disk Encryption – SafeBit features on-the-fly disk encryption, by creating encrypted virtual disk drives, where you can hide files and folders, keep them encrypted all the time, but still work with these files just like you work with normal files. Disk Encryption is transparent to the user.
• Invisible Secrets 4 – Invisible Secrets 4 not only encrypts your data and files for safe keeping or for secure transfer across the Net, it also hides them in places that on the surface appear totally innocent, such as picture or sound files, or Web pages. With Invisible Secrets 4 file encryption software, you may encrypt and hide files directly from Windows Explorer, and then automatically transfer them by e-mail or via the Internet.
• SUPERAntiSpyware – SUPERAntiSpyware has Real-Time Blocking of threats! Prevent potentially harmful software from installing or re-installing! First Chance Prevention examines over 50 critical points of your system each time your system starts up and shuts down to eliminate threats before they have a chance to infect and infiltrate your system.
• Acronis True Image Home 2010 – It should be a simple rule that every computer user should follow: back up your data. It is not a matter of “if” your computer will give you problems. It is a matter of “when.” Acronis makes it simple for you to back up your information in the case of an emergency. You can find coupons for Acronis True Image on Coupons.Lockergnome.com.
• MailWasher Pro – One of the ways that spam is handled is by means of filters. The problem is that sometimes a filter screens out legitimate email. And sometimes spam bypasses the filters. One of the great features of MailWasher Pro is that it allows the user to preview the email prior to downloading onto the computer. With a brief glance, you will be able to tell what is legitimate email and what is junk. And you do this while the email is not on your computer.
• VIPRE – VIPRE is a seamless solution that provided anti-virus protection and anti-spyware protection, along with anti-rootkit, anti-malware, and many other security technologies. It is really easy to use. It doesn’t slow your system down at all, either.
• Sunbelt Personal Firewall – Even if you are protected by a router that sits between your computer and the Internet, you still need a firewall. The Sunbelt Personal Firewall blocks unwanted traffic that is incoming – but it also monitors what leaves from your machine. This is critical, as the information going out could be your personal information.
• RoboForm Pro – You can safeguard your personal information with RoboForm Pro. It will protect users from phishing attempts. It will remember the sites that you want to use, and it won’t allow you to use a spoofed Web site. The phony sites are sometimes so good that it’s almost impossible to tell they are fake until it’s too late. RoboForm Pro will identify which sites are “real” and which sites are not. You can find coupons for RoboForm Pro on Coupons.Lockergnome.com.
• Password Manager – Password Manager secures your logins, hides your keystrokes and encrypts your passwords. Password Manager protects your identity and is an added layer of security from phishing attempts. It is a guard from identity theft.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep yourself safe. Criminals and hackers are getting smarter by the day, just as you are. It’s literally impossible to know everything, right? How, then, can you be 100% certain that you “know” your computer couldn’t become infected – if it isn’t already?

• Top-Rated Firewall Back by Request
• Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy?
• Save Your Computer from Malware – and Naked Journalists!
• Identity Theft Protection
• Know When Something is Being Installed on Your Machine
• More Malware on its Way – Protect Yourself
• Huge Savings to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft!
• Geek Savings on WinPatrol
• Special Geek Savings on Sunbelt VIPRE AntiVirus and AntiSpyware
• SUPERAntiSpyware – Special Savings for our Community

There are some things that you want to keep private. It may be financial information, sensitive data like your passwords, proprietary information, or other such confidential material. You simply don’t want friends, colleagues, roommates, family, or repair people to have access to that information. Not only is that information private, but you want to secure that sensitive data from identity theft. And sadly, sometimes identity theft is perpetrated by someone you know.

Invisible Secrets 4 not only encrypts your data and files for safe keeping or for secure transfer across the Net, it also hides them in places that on the surface appear totally innocent, such as picture or sound files, or Web pages. These types of files are a perfect disguise for sensitive information. Using our file encryption software nobody, not even your wife, boss, or a hacker would realize that your important papers or letters are stored in your last holiday pictures, or that you use your personal Web page to exchange messages or secret documents. With Invisible Secrets 4 file encryption software, you may encrypt and hide files directly from Windows Explorer, and then automatically transfer them by e-mail or via the Internet.

We have Invisible Secrets 4 available to our readers at a 40% discount.

Invisible Secrets 4 works on Windows NT / 2000 / XP and Vista. This generous offer ends October 22nd, 2009.

Cisco Systems uses this program. The Drug Enforcement Administration (USA) uses this program. The Exchange Bank uses this program. McCain Foods Limited uses this program. Privacy and security are important to these companies and institutions – it is essential to computer protection. This is a preventative measure that individual computer users have to recognize because there is so much information on just one hard drive.

This program should be standard on every machine. With business laptops, government laptops, and personal laptops going missing every day, this security program should be on every portable machine, as well as desktop. This would be an enormous savings for sensitive information that is breached and the subsequent nightmare of paying for identity theft protection. It’s simple and it’s effective.

If you need large multiples of this program, please let us know. We will try to negotiate a good price for those companies that might need many copies for laptops holding those confidential files. For the individual user, think of the files, emails, pictures, passwords, and other bits of information that you don’t want people to access. That is exactly why we want this privacy/security program for our readers… and our thanks to the Invisible Secrets people for this kind offer.

• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• Identity Theft Protection
• Safeguard Your Security and Privacy
• Protecting Your Privacy and Security
• Is Your Password Strong Enough?
• Privacy
• Don’t Believe Everything You Read
• Windows Security Software
• Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy?
• Password and Phishing Protection

Did you do your taxes on your laptop or your desktop? Were you diligent enough to save a copy of all the work – just in case there were any problems? If you did, there is enough information on your computer to make you a victim of identity theft. There are essentially two things that a half-way efficient identity thief needs… your name and your social security number. Your date of birth would make it that much easier to turn you into an identity theft victim, but it isn’t really an essential. All that is needed is that social security number tied to your name.

One of the basic ways to protect yourself is to encrypt your computer information.

This is nothing new. The security people have been saying it for years and years. For some reason, encryption seems to be something people think is difficult and totally geekish. It’s not that at all. SafeBit Disk Encryption makes it easy:

SafeBit features on-the-fly disk encryption, by creating encrypted virtual disk drives, where you can hide files and folders, keep them encrypted all the time, but still work with these files just like you work with normal files. Disk Encryption is transparent to the user…

This program is easy to use. It’s efficient and stays out of your way. It really is non intrusive. And, to encourage you to protect your sensitive data, the SafeBit people are being kind and offering our readers an unbelievable discount of forty per cent (40%) off the normal price:

This is an exclusive time limited offer that is available to our readers. It expires on April 23, 2009.

There are two more things that needs to be said. The first is that you may have all the security software protection ever recommended on your machine. You may be protecting yourself from malware, spyware, trojans, rootkits and all that other garbage. An infection still can compromise your computer. No security software program dares to offer a hundred per cent protection. (The person at the keyboard makes errors.) And what happens if you lose or have your machine stolen? For example, missing/stolen laptops are reported every day. Then, all your confidential information is available to whoever is powering up your machine. Yes, this type of encryption should be on every government and business laptop. [Give a shout if you want this program in high volume. We will see what we can do for you.]

The other thing is that there is no backdoor. The SafeBit people state this clearly. – “The software does NOT include any backdoor. Neither the vendor nor any other entities are able to break the SafeBit Disk encryption.” – You must remember your password. There is no two ways about it. The vendor is not going to be able to save you. Again, you must remember the password. The program really is that good. Losing your machine may be costly but losing the confidential personal information on that computer may mean possibly long term anguish. SafeBit is just an efficient, easy way to protect yourself.

• One Step for Privacy and Security
• Windows Security Software
• Safeguard Your Security and Privacy
• Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy?
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• Special Geek Savings on Sunbelt VIPRE AntiVirus and AntiSpyware
• Vipre Protects Your Computer From Malware
• Identity Theft Protection
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• Know When Something is Being Installed on Your Machine

You already have zero privacy – get over it. That was the famous quote from Scott McNealy, then the CEO of Sun Microsystems, ten years ago. It may be one of the most misinterpreted quotes with regard to privacy. Although there are various intrusions on our privacy, it remains our responsibility to protect our sensitive, confidential data. One program that offers an additional layer of computer protection is Invisible Secrets.

Invisible Secrets 4 not only encrypts your data and files for safe keeping or for secure transfer across the net, it also hides them in places that on the surface appear totally innocent, such as picture or sound files, or web pages. These types of files are a perfect disguise for sensitive information. Using our file encryption software nobody, not even your wife, boss, or a hacker would realize that your important papers or letters are stored in your last holiday pictures, or that you use your personal web page to exchange messages or secret documents.

For our readers, we have negotiated 40% off – yes! forty percent!

Invisible Secrets works on Windows NT / 2000 / XP and Vista. This offer ends April 14th, so hurry to take advantage of the amazing savings!

There are many features of this program but let’s focus on just one. There is encryption for hidden files. Why is this not on every laptop? Can you imagine the money that this would save just in terms of preventing identity theft?

There is personal, private sensitive information that you would like to control. Invisible Secrets affords that protection. It allows you the security of protecting information from your family members, co-workers, hackers, identity thieves… If you are needing large multiples of this program, please let us know. We will try to negotiate a good price for those companies that might need many copies for laptops holding those confidential files. For the individual user, think of the files, emails, pictures, passwords and other bits of information that you don’t want people to access. That is exactly why we went after this privacy/security program for our readers… and our thanks to the Invisible Secrets people for this generous offer.

• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• Identity Theft Protection
• One Step for Privacy and Security
• Protecting Your Privacy and Security
• Huge Savings to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft!
• Is Your Password Strong Enough?
• Windows Security Software
• Safeguard Your Security and Privacy
• Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy?
• Password and Phishing Protection

These days, we Geeks don’t travel anywhere without our laptops. It’s a given that we need to have them on us! How would we survive?! Thankfully, Seth sent in the following tips to help us keep them safe while we are on the road.

• Pad The Laptop: Make sure the laptop bag or carrying case you transport your laptop in provides adequate padding. As you move about the airport or shove the laptop under the seat in front of you or into the overhead storage compartment, the laptop can be jarred and jostled quite a bit.
• Keep It On You: It is not uncommon for someone to set their luggage down while standing in line for a muffin, or to sit down while waiting for a flight. With all luggage, it is important to keep an eye on it and ensure nobody tampers with it or steals it. Because of their size and value though, laptops make prime targets and a thief can snatch the laptop bag and keep walking while you are unaware with your back turned. You should keep the laptop bag on your shoulder or keep it in sight at all times.
• Back Up Data: Perform a backup of all critical or sensitive data before departing. Just in case your laptop does become damaged or lost, you don’t want to also lose your important files and information. You can buy a new laptop, but it is much harder to replace lost data.
• Encrypt Your Data: Just in case your laptop should fall into unauthorized hands, you should make sure your hard drive is encrypted. Laptops with Windows Vista Enterprise or Ultimate come equipped with BitLocker drive encryption. If you aren’t using one of these versions of Windows Vista, and your company has not implemented any other sort of enterprise-wide encryption solution, you can use an open source solution such as TrueCrypt to protect your data.
• Document Identifying Information: In case your laptop does end up lost or stolen, you should be able to provide detailed information about the make, model, serial number and any other identifying information. You may need the information to file a claim with the airline or your insurance company, or to provide law enforcement.

Use Strong Passwords: Follow the advice in Passwords and How to Make Them to make sure that your passwords can not be easily guessed or cracked if your laptop falls into the wrong hands. An excellent program for helping to secure and manage your passwords is Password Vault, which works for both Windows and Mac OS X.

• Use a BIOS Password: Protecting your laptop with an operating system login and password is a good idea, but there are ways to circumvent that protection and gain access to the data still. For better protection, you should enable password protection at the BIOS level so that the laptop can not even be turned on without the correct password.
• Implement Remote Data Protection: Another step you can take to make sure your data does not fall into the wrong hands is to look into products that will allow you to remotely destroy or erase the data on your laptop if it is lost or stolen. These products generally require that the unauthorized user connect to the Internet first in order for them to do their work though, so they are not a guarantee.
• Use Portable Storage: To make sure you have the business critical PowerPoint presentation or Excel spreadsheet that you need to show your business partners in order to seal the multi-million dollar deal (or whatever other important files and documents might be on your laptp) you should carry a copy on a USB thumb drive or some other type of portable storage that you can carry separate from the laptop in case it becomes lost or stolen.
• Just Leave The Laptop At Home: When it comes to all of the hassles and all of the issues that can arise from traveling with your laptop, you should also consider whether you really need to take it. You can carry your data or files on portable storage such as a CD, DVD or USB drive, or you can just email or FTP the data ahead of you. Then, you can borrow a desktop or laptop system once you are safely on the ground and at the office site you are visiting.

• How to Keep Your Valuables Safe When You Travel
• Password Help
• Identity Theft Protection
• Windows Security Software
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• How are You Carving Your Pumpkin?
• Could all of Life’s Conveniences be Killing Us?
• Cool Your Laptop with a Griffin Coupon!
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• How to Cool Your Laptop Notebook Computer

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

On my birthday, $450 worth of iTunes gift certificates were transferred from my account to someone else’s, on account of my account being compromised. I logged into my PayPal and sent in a report. My request for my money to be returned was denied by PayPal. Mesiox sent in some tips for all of us, to hopefully help us keep our PayPal accounts safe.

1. The first thing, it all starts with a clean computer system. A computer system with viruses or keyloggers may be the cause unauthorized people to be inside of your PayPal account. Use security programs on your computer.
2. Make sure the site you are in is the verified PayPal site, and not a Phishing site. You can check this out by checking the domain name in the browsers url bar. You should see PayPal’s actual site address, and not something else.
3. Don’t keep large amounts of money in your PayPal account, because people can easily send your money to other accounts in a blink of an eye if they gain access to it. Instead of keeping it on PayPal, keep it inside your bank account.
4. Check your Paypal history on a daily basis. This way, you can stop money from being transfered if you see it happening when and where it shouldn’t be.
5. This may be common sense, but use a strong password! Use a mixture of lowercase, uppercase, symbols, and numbers. Make it harder for a hacker to guess to begin with! Reading this post by Chris may help.
6. When you’re buying something with PayPal, be sure to check that the site you are on is secure. Do this by checking the url bar. The site should contain “HTTPS”. This will help you determine if the site is fraudulent or not. You can also do research on Google about certain sellers that you may not be sure of.
7. Shop with well-known companies who have established a good reputation.

My biggest piece of advice to you if something does happen, is to be vocal about it. Tell your story. The more times and places you tell it… the more people will hear and pass it along.

• Secret Shopping Center.
• Official MyGoogleJob.Com 2nd Edition -Make Money The Easy Way.
• Affiliate Stats & Customer Acquisition.
• Get Paid For Shopping And Eating Out.
• Premium Surveys: Easiest Cash Online.
• Secrets Of A Handcrafted Jewelry Shopping Service.
• Ebook: Saving Money Through Power Shopping.
• SurveyPolicy.com Paid Surveys.
• Keep Your Hard Earned Cash!
• Shopping.com Partner Site Api Script Installation Service.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GvdjXRW6UmY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GvdjXRW6UmY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

• PayPal Denies $450 of Unauthorized Charges
• Identity Theft Protection
• Windows Security Software
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy?
• Protect All of Your Computers at Once
• Huge Savings to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft!
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• How to Buy and Sell on eBay
• 10 Tips to Keep Your Notebook Safe when Traveling

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

We’ve talked about passwords before, and how to make them secure. You should also never use the same password in more than one location at the same time. If you’re like me, you have tons of passwords, for several different places. So how do you keep track of them, and remember them all? Writing them down on paper isn’t the best way to keep them secure. It definitely isn’t secure to keep them in a text file on your computer!

SuperGenPass allows you to remember just one password (your “master password”), which is used to generate unique, complex passwords for the Web sites you visit. SuperGenPass is a bookmarklet, so there’s no software to install. It works right from your Web browser and integrates with login forms. SuperGenPass never stores or transmits your passwords, so it’s easy and safe to use on multiple computers, even while traveling. It’s also completely free.

It doesn’t get any easier and safer than that. I recommend you check this site out. If you have other programs, websites or ways of keeping your passwords secure, let me know about them.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1xVAQLVYgLg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1xVAQLVYgLg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

• Identity Theft Protection
• Windows Security Software
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• 10 Tips to Keep Your Notebook Safe when Traveling
• Is Your Password Strong Enough?
• Password Help
• Privacy
• When is Your Birthday?
• Backup Security and Synchronizing (even for Macs!)

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

If you’re like me, you probably have dozens of different passwords. We all know that in order to protect ourselves online, we must have strong passwords. How do you know, though, if your passwords are strong enough?

Head over to The Password Meter. This is a free service that will check your password for you and report back to whether your password is weak or strong. The Password Meter checks for minimum requirements of at least eight characters, and at least 3 out of the following 4:

• Uppercase Letters
• Lowercase Letters
• Numbers
• Symbols

It measures your password by several factors:

• Number of Characters
• Uppercase Letters
• Lowercase Letters
• Numbers
• Symbols
• Middle Numbers or Symbols
• Requirements

At the same time, “points” will be deducted for things like having letters or numbers only, repeating characters, and sequential and consecutive characters. This is an excellent test, and I highly suggest you check every one of your passwords using this. Also, when you’re ready to set a new password for something, why not run it through this test prior to using it? It only takes a few seconds. Isn’t your peace of mind worth those seconds?

• Free Password Storage.
• Password Protect Your Usb Flash Drive.
• ReWriters Software.
• Scripts4webmasters.com-php/mysql Scripts.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8tww_xyP0OM"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8tww_xyP0OM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

• Identity Theft Protection
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• Windows Security Software
• Safeguard Your Security and Privacy
• Are Hackers Suffering in This Economy?
• Password and Phishing Protection
• Prepare for the New School Year by Protecting Your Information
• One Step for Privacy and Security
• Protecting Your Privacy and Security

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

In this day and age, you can’t be too careful online. You have to keep your information safe, by choosing unique, impossible-to-guess passwords. Here are some tips sent in by Daniel to help you stay secure.

• Don’t use familar names or dates as passwords. Take the time to create a password that is totally unique and yet is still rememberable for you, and only you.
• Use all parts of the keyboard. For example, instead of using a word, use a series of characters on the keyboard such as two lower case, two upper case, two numbers, and two special characters like ! and @. Also, try to use the entire keyboard, not just one small area. This may help prevent a hacker from lucking into your password.
• Don’t write down your password! The execption to this is in the event of emergencies. Create a list of passwords for use only in an emergency, such as the bank or possibly important websites that can help authorities find you in the case of and emergency ie: myspace or twitter. Do this with the greatest caution. Seal the list in a security envelope, and sign the seal. Place that into another larger envelope, and seal and sign. Only give this list to someone who you really trust like a spouse or parent.
• Change your password often. I change my passwords every six months or sooner. The longer you stick with the same passwords the more vunerable they become. Also periodically delete your cookies on your computer. This will prevent someone accessing your info because the computer remembers your password. Never use the auto fill features of the internet browser. This is just plain unsafe and leaves you open for identiy theft.
• Finally, don’t use the same password for everything. If a hacker figures out that password, he will gain access to all your password protected areas. Have a plethera of passwords to choose from that are not simualr to each other. Also be careful when using a password generator. Never give out personal info to generator sites, and make sure the generated password meets or exceeds all the other criteria.

• Free Password Storage.
• Password Protect Your Usb Flash Drive.
• ReWriters Software.
• Scripts4webmasters.com-php/mysql Scripts.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OuTNVssyWL0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OuTNVssyWL0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

• 10 Tips to Keep Your Notebook Safe when Traveling
• Identity Theft Protection
• Windows Security Software
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• How to Keep Your Valuables Safe When You Travel
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• How Do You Remember Your Passwords?
• Is Your Password Strong Enough?
• Privacy
• When is Your Birthday?

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

In this day and age, you can’t be too careful with your personal information. We all know I’m not a private person in any way, but I do value your privacy and want to help keep you safe. Here are some excellent tips that Josh sent in, to help your data and identity stay secure.

• Don’t shop online or check your email on public computers, or when using unencrypted wireless networks. If you do have to do these things, be sure you log out and clear any cookies and login information you possibly can. Also, try using After Work on a U3 Flash Drive if possible. After Work erase online and offline history: Temporary Internet Files, IE history, typed urls, opened documents, started programs, temporary registry values.
• Only visit trusted sites for downloads. For example, if you need to download drivers for hardware, check the manufacturer’s website first. Don’t rely on a Google search. You may end up entering personal information to get your download, or even paying for things that should be free.
• Keep your passwords long and difficult. You more than ten characters, add punctuation where allowed, add a mixture of letters and numbers, and mix up your capitalization with lowercase letters. There are a couple of excellent password managing tools out there, including the open-source KeePass, and RoboForm. The simple version of RoboForm is free. However, if you’d like a paid version, I can save you 20% if you ask nicely.
• Create a password for your BIOS. This will make it impossible for anyone to get onto your computer without the password. This is a password that must be entered before the OS even loads. Also, change your Windows password often, to prevent anyone from figuring it out.
• Encrypt your data. TrueCrypt is open-source (FREE!) software that will encrypt your data as it is entered.
• Two bonus tips: Make use of hidden files and folders, and keep the option to view them turned OFF. Also, change file extensions whenever possible.

These are excellent privacy tips, Josh. For everyone else, what other privacy tips do you have that you want to pass along to the rest of the world? Leave them for me in a comment to this video, or email them to me at chris@pirillo.com

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NVWFKwLiRhg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NVWFKwLiRhg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

• Windows Security Software
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• Identity Theft Protection
• Don’t Believe Everything You Read
• Safeguard Your Security and Privacy
• Protecting Your Privacy and Security
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• The Government is Wiretapping Your Phone and Email and Most of You Don’t Care
• 10 Tips to Keep Your Notebook Safe when Traveling
• How Do You Remember Your Passwords?

Chris | Live Tech Support | Video Help | Add to iTunes

http://live.pirillo.com/ – I decided to give Vista another go, and reinstalled it on my computer, along with SP1. Being a fresh install, I had to go through and set everything up the way I had it before, including the way Vista logs me in.

I want Vista to automatically log me in each time I start the computer up. I wasn’t sure how to do this, so I went to Google. One of the first hits I came across actually linked back to our Lockergnome.com blogging network. Thankfully, this isn’t so hard to do.

To open this in the UAC (or User Account Control) in Vista, go to the start/search area of Vista, and type in NETPLWIZ. Once you get there:

• UNcheck the box next to “Users should enter a username and password to use this computer”, and then press OK.
• Type the username and password for the user you want to automatically logon to Windows Vista when it boots up and press OK
• Reboot the computer

It’s that simple. Vista will remember the username and password, and you won’t have to log in every time you boot the computer.

Want to embed this video in your blog? Use this code:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CasXY2q-IxY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CasXY2q-IxY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

Formats Available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4) Flash Video (.flv) MP3 Audio (.mp3)

• Windows Vista Stories
• Back to School Laptop
• Installing Linux in Windows
• Speed Up Windows Startup with a Processor Tweak
• Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Blue Screen of Death
• Safe to Delete Windows Prefetch
• Windows Recycle Bin Tips
• Sharing Files Between Mac OS X and Windows XP
• Windows Experience Index
• Recovering Windows Passwords

Chris | Live Tech Support | Video Help | Add to iTunes

http://live.pirillo.com/ – The gal who uploads videos for me called in tonight needing help with her daughters’ brand new laptop. Apparently, the daughter set a password on the ONLY Admin account, and then promptly forgot it. Kat had already installed all the programs, transferred music, etc and doesn’t want to have to format.

At first I was hesitant about doing this video. We all know that what I say can be used for nefarious purposes. I want to point out that is NOT my intention here at all. However, there is often a legitimate need for someone to be able to recover their password. Let’s face it. We all forget a password at some point. When that password is keeping you from being able to get into your computer at all… it can be disastrous if you have important work or school files on there. This was the case with Kat and her daughter. Being a Microsoft MVP in the area of Windows Security, Kat well knows the dangers of teaching people how to bypass or reset a password. However, she agrees with me that there are definitely people out there who really need this help.

All that out of the way, let’s get down to helping her! Several people in the chat room are recommending using a Ultimate Boot CD. Looking around, I think that’s going to be the way to go. You can also try SamInside. That looks like a powerful choice, as well. It’s not free, of course… and we know the reason why. Hopefully having to pay for this will stop people from using it for evil reasons. Another chatter is suggesting OphCrack. However, that is a Linux based utility, and may be difficult for you to use.

This is why I recommend using a password storage program, or even an online based one. This way, you can always look up your passwords. Heck, keep a small notebook hidden somewhere with your passwords written in them! Just don’t ever use the same password on every site, and don’t use something easy to guess! I hope everything works out ok for you, Kat. Make sure you let us know what happens!

Want to embed this video into your blog? Use this code:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0pAEJ_BGu9U"></aram><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0pAEJ_BGu9U" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

Formats Available: MPEG4 Video (.mp4) Flash Video (.flv) MP3 Audio (.mp3)

• Automatic Login for Windows Vista
• Windows Vista Stories
• Installing Linux in Windows
• Back to School Laptop
• Safe to Delete Windows Prefetch
• Windows Recycle Bin Tips
• Sharing Files Between Mac OS X and Windows XP
• Manage Startup Items in OS X
• Microsoft Office Windows Installer Problem
• Cross Platform Parental Controls

Okay, well… I can’t say that my search has ended, but I think I found something that’ll be “good enough” until something better comes along. As I noted in my original post, I was looking for an ASP model for password management (although I suppose a “private” Web-based solution would likely be better). I don’t want a single binary, because I’m trying to share account information with Ponzi – which can’t be done effectively through anything other than a Web-based solution. Someone had commented on my blog about his new password storage tool, but that apparently disappeared into the ethernet – so I hope he comes back and comments in this thread. Here’s the winner: Password Safe. If you search for “manage passwords online,” it’s the number one result on Google. Seems like the perfect solution for me, though its interface is a bit tricky to navigate at first. I can’t find any competition to the product – at least one that’s easy to set up and get going for free. I hadn’t really heard of these guys before, but can’t find anything negative about them on the Web (at least, as far as security and password problems are concerned). Y’all asked for an update, so here you go. Oh – and I realized another thing: I’m far more forgiving with lackluster Web page UI than I am with desktop binary UI (don’t ask me why).

• Password Management
• Identity Theft Protection
• Windows Security Software
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• How are You Carving Your Pumpkin?
• Managing your Passwords: Protection from Phishing / Identity Theft
• Huge Savings to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft!
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• 10 Tips to Keep Your Notebook Safe when Traveling
• Do You Have a Problem with PayPal?

Ponzi and I are at our wit’s end. We have a lot of passwords to keep between each other, for both personal and business accounts. Initially, a single password-protected spreadsheet did the trick. However, she saw it fit to add an additional tab with her own account information to the same file – and then we were messing with two versions and (in some cases) two different authentication sets. She’d scream bloody murder whenever a password would change, and I would remind her that I only wanted to keep a single master document between us. “I don’t want to do that” was always her answer, though this response provided no alternative solution (and tech decisions are “always” my responsibility, natch). Started looking around the Web for a password management system today – found a few promising resources, mostly Web-based (for universal access between the two of us and others). I really don’t wanna fuss with desktop binaries anymore.

• Managing Passwords Online
• Identity Theft Protection
• Windows Security Software
• Protect Your Data From Prying Eyes
• How are You Carving Your Pumpkin?
• Managing your Passwords: Protection from Phishing / Identity Theft
• Huge Savings to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft!
• Huge Savings on Another Layer of Computer Protection
• 10 Tips to Keep Your Notebook Safe when Traveling
• Do You Have a Problem with PayPal?