Enhance Your Online Shopping Experience

The annual shopping season is just around the corner. This can be a very exciting time, depending on your perspective, it could be fun or just a real pain. For those that would rather avoid the crowds, traffic and the occasional rude shopper, here are a few comments to consider:

Passwords Are Such A Pain!

Most of us consider passwords a pain in the butt. I did too until I started to think. Just imagine what could happen if some kind of password was not required. Without a password, anyone could log into your ISP, bank account, shopping venue or anything else for that matter. All they would need is your user name. Think again when you are frustrated with remembering and/or using passwords.

Easy To Remember Passwords!

If your password is easy to remember, chances are, anyone with a little knowledge about you or your family will be able to figure it out. The passwords that you create should be formatted so no one could ever guess it. Remember, it is not necessarily your friends and family that you are concerned about here. Professional (or not so professional) identity thieves can be very creative and have significant resources at their disposal for cracking passwords. If you create your passwords with your name, nickname or any other information that is readily available, chances are it can be cracked easily.

A Few Basics For Creating Passwords

Passwords are required, however, chances are you will see as many different rules as applications. For the most part passwords are:

# Case Sensitive: That means that an uppercase letter is totally different from a lowercase letter. For instance, the letter ‘B’ is read entirely different than the letter ‘b’.

# Special Characters: These are the ones that appear over the number keys on your main keyboard, along with some others. Most applications have a set of rules governing the use of these characters, be sure to read the rules before you begin. In addition, blank spaces are not allowed in most applications.

# How Long/Short: Generally, each application will tell you the minimum and maximum length you are allowed to use. Most online shopping venues require a minimum of six characters. Regardless of minimum requirements, I strongly recommend that you use at least eight characters in each password you create.

Hints for Creating Passwords

# Each password/pass phrase should be more than seven characters.

# Use a mixture of letters (upper and lower case), numbers and special charecters.

# Create a pass phrase rather than a password! Some of you are very creative with license plates; use that creativity with your pass phrase.

How about this one: LuV2Sh0P

Password/Pass Phrase Security

# I can think of only one circumstance when you will be required to give a password or phrase to anyone. When you initially signup at a new application you will be required to choose (type in) your password. No reputable company will ever ask for your password! Depending on the application, a reputable organization will never need your password! Do not share your password with anyone.

# Be sure to teach your children to never share passwords. Kids (and some adults) find it very difficult to keep a secret. You must continuously remind them not to share this secret!

# One temptation that is very hard to overcome is keeping a list of passwords on your desk or in a file on your computer. Please DON’T. The best alternative to keeping all those passwords in your head, on your desk or in your purse/wallet is RoboForm. There are any number of software packages out there that will help you secure your passwords. I highly recommend RoboForm. RoboForm will create those dreaded passwords, securely store them and automatically place them when and where you need them! That is the simplest function of this package, check out the site at: http://www.l1nk.com/tLf/RoBo.html The best part is the basic version is free. There are several options for an expanded version, but the free version is sufficient for most shoppers. Do yourself a favor and at least check it out. Filling in the forms at your favorite online shopping venue will be a snap.

# Now that you have successfully created a secure password that you can remember, it is time to change it! I recommend changing your password every thirty to forty-five days. More frequently if you work in an exposed environment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Harriet Raymond is a recognized authority on the subject of online shopping. Her web site, http://www.HatsCasualShopping.com, offers the online shopper the finest shopping venues on the internet today. The site contains only those e-merchants that meet or exceed her high standards for: security, customer service, and dependability.