AOL Moves Beyond Passwords for Log-Ons
AOL has taken steps to increase security for it’s customers. For a $1.95 a month additional fee, “subscribers get a matchbook-size device from RSA Security Inc. displaying a six-digit code that changes every minute. The code is necessary to log on, so a scammer who guesses or steals a password cannot access the account without the device in hand.”
AOL is doing this in an effort to prevent identity theft and other problems as more and more people use the web to pay bills and buy things.
While this may help, but it’s always best to remember some simple rules for making sure your online accounts aren’t compromised:
Create a hard to guess password
The best passwords have a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols.
Change your password often, especially for banking websites
The more often you change it, the less chance there will be that someone will gain access to your accounts.
Don’t use the same password for every account you have
If someone gets a hold of your one password, everything is compromised.
Don’t give out your password to anyone
At times, you may get seemingly legit emails asking for your password. Never give it out!
Use common sense
If a website looks suspicious, don’t buy anything from it. Check for reviews on a website at places such as
resellerratings.com or
myconsumeradvantage.com.
As long as I’ve been paying bills and making purchases online, I’ve been lucky and never had any problems. Does anyone have any horror stories of bad experiences that they’ve had online? Any additional advice that you would like to pass on?
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Sep 22nd, 2004 at 01:53:11
No horror stories here. I’ve done many transactions on the internet.
A piece of advice I would suggest is to not store your password in IE or whatever browser you use. I don’t trust that.