Web Site Security: 8 Tips
Author: William Davis

The computer age has made the personal computer affordable for
most people of virtually every industrialized country. Whether
it takes the form of a desktop or laptop, all computers are
used for a wide variety of functions. As the number of people
on the Internet soars ever higher, security becomes an
increasing concern. Here are some tips to help ensure a
personal or business Web site is secure against attack.

1. Passwords are the first line of defense. Most programs have
a maximum number of characters for the password, and it is best
to use all every available character. Each additional letter or
number in a password makes it that much more difficult for
someone to figure out what it is.

2. It is very common for people to use important dates, names
of loved ones, and other things close to the heart their heart
as their password. Unfortunately this information is not very
difficult to discover. Then it simply becomes a matter of
trying each likely candidate until one works. Passwords should
never be these kinds of things so that the contents of the
computer will not be compromised.

3. The worst kind of passwords are those that are simply a
sequential series of letters or numbers, or those where the log
in name and password are the same. This lack of imagination
practically begs for a security breach to happen.

4. Only the owner of a Web site should be privy to the security
codes on it. No one else should know password and it is best
never to write it down. If the password falls into the wrong
hands, or is even suspected of being compromised, it should be
changed immediately.

5. Some passwords are case sensitive. If the password was
originally entered with the caps-lock off, but upon logging on
it was typed with caps-lock on, the system will not honor the
password. A clever user can take advantage of this feature by
randomly distributing capital and lower-case letters in a
password.

6. The natural assumption when trying to guess someone's
password is to believe it to be a real word. However this need
not be the case. Some of the most unbreakable passwords are
those which are not words at all.

7. Another security problem that some people create is the act
of using the same log in and password when logging on to many
different sites. Should only one of these sites be cracked the
chances are the others will also be compromised. It is best to
use a different password for each site. At the very least,
reused passwords should be limited only to applications where
security is not important. For example, Web forum memberships,
if compromised, represent very little danger to the user so
long as the password used for those sites is not reused for
anything where sensitive data could be stored.

8. When using Web sites that require a login, simply closing
the browser is not sufficient to prevent other users from
accessing that information from the same computer. It's
possible to simply re-open the browser and gain access to the
site without needing to log back in. Use the proper log-out
procedure on the Web site before closing the browser in order
to avoid this from happening.

Keeping secure on the Internet is not just the job of those who
create software products for the consumer. It is also the
responsibility of each and every computer user. The user can
feel at ease knowing the contents in the Web sites are safe by
simply taking the appropriate safety measures.


About The Author: William Davis writes for several popular web
sites, especially http://tasup.com and http://fidew.com