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One of the problems we see with passwords is that users forget them. In an effort to not forget them, they use simple things like their dog’s name, their son’s first name and birthdate, the name of the current month- anything that will give them a clue to remember what their password is – this is very very dangerous.

For the curious hacker who has somehow gained access to your computer system this is the equivalent of locking your door and leaving the key under the doormat. Without even resorting to any specialised tools a hacker can discover your basic personal information – name, children’s name, birthdate, pet names, etc. and try all of those out as potential passwords.

To create a secure password that is easy for you to remember, follow these simple steps:

1. Do not use personal information. You should never use personal information as a part of your password. It is very easy for someone to guess things like your last name, pet’s name, child’s birth date and other similar details.
2. Do not use real words. There are tools available to help attackers guess your password. With today’s computing power, it doesn’t take long to try every word in the dictionary and find your password, so it is best if you do not use real words for your password.
3. Mix different character types. You can make a password much more secure by mixing different types of characters. Use some uppercase letters along with lowercase letters, numbers and even special characters such as ‘&’ or ‘%’.
4. Use a passphrase. Rather than trying to remember a password created using various character types which is also not a word from the dictionary, you can use a passphrase. Think up a sentence or a line from a song or poem that you like and create a password using the first letter from each word.For example, rather than just having a password like ‘yr$1Hes’, you could take a sentence such as “I like to read about security” and convert it to a password like ‘!l2rAs”. By substituting the number ’2′ for the word ‘to’ and using an exclamation point in place of the ‘I’, you can use a variety of character types and create a secure password that is hard to crack, but much easier for you to remember.
5. Use a password management tool. Another way to store and remember passwords securely is to use some sort of password management tool. These tools maintain a list of usernames and passwords in encrypted form. Some will even automatically fill in the username and password information on sites and applications.

Using the tips above will help you create passwords that are more secure, but you should still also follow the following tips:

• Use different passwords. You should use a different username & password for each login or application you are trying to protect. That way if one gets compromised the others are still safe. Another approach which is less secure, but provides a fair tradeoff between security and convenience, is to use one username and password for sites and applications that don’t need the extra security, but use unique usernames and more secure passwords on sites such as your bank or credit card companies.
• Change your passwords. You should change your password at least every 30 to 60 days. You should also not re-use a password for at least a year.
• Enforce stronger passwords: Rather than relying on every user of the computer to understand and follow the instructions above, you can configure Microsot Windows password policies so that Windows will not accept passwords that don’t meet the minimum requirements.

Building a good looking website can be a difficult task, especially if you are trying to do so manually. Of course there are tools that can be used to expedite and even automate the process, however many people are not familiar with these tools. One of the tools that every website owner will need to learn how to use is an FTP tool. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and FTP client lets you easily upload your website’s content from your hard drive to your site seamlessly. Without an FTP client, you would need to upload all of your content individually, which would take a very long time and would require a lot of effort on your behalf. If you use an FTP client than you’ll be able to upload hundreds of files simultaneously without having to upload each file manually. If you’re running several websites, or one that is graphic or file intensive, then you’ll most definitely need to use an FTP client.

What FTP Client Should You Use?

If you’re worried about the cost of an FTP client then you should be aware that there are many free FTP clients that will do everything you need them to with ease. One such FTP client is FileZilla which is used by many people all around the world. If you’re going to be running a corporate website with greater demand then you may want ton consider a paid solution that will include more features. However, keep in mind that even large businesses use free FTP clients, and you can do pretty much anything you’d like with a free FTP client such as FileZilla.

Using the FTP Client

Using an FTP client is actually very simple, although it can seem intimidating at first, the program is actually designed to be user-friendly and you’ll soon learn how to upload content to your site quickly and easily. First, you’ll want to become acquainted with the FTP interface. Almost all of the FTP clients have the same central design. The left side is devoted to your hard drive, and the right side is devoted to your website. The top of the interface is devoted to folders, while the bottom displays the files within those folders. When you click a folder on the top side of the interface, you’ll see it on the bottom of the interface in the files section. To upload content simply right click on the file you want to upload on the left side of the FTP client, then click on upload. You can upload several files at once by holding down the Ctrl key and then clicking the files you would like to upload. Once you have highlighted all of the files you’d like to upload simply right click them and then click upload.

Making Backups with an FTP Client

Just as you can upload files using your FTP client, you can also download files using your FTP client as well. This means you can backup your entire website by downloading it onto your hard drive. Although there are easier ways to backup a website, this is one of the fundamental ways to do it. Simply click on the main folder of your website on the right side of the interface, then right-click it and click download. It may take a while to download all of the files, but the wait is worth it since you’ll be able to restore your website at any time if you’d like.