PSA: The Importance of Internets Security

Recently, there has been a plethora of bot spam coming from Ms. Deckard's account (either that or she has gained a sudden interest in online retail), so I'd just like to take a moment to lecture you all in internet security.

First thing is your password. Passwords such as "1234567" are not ideal passwords. Choose something that you can easily remember, but still pretty cryptic. You'll be safe with a ten digit number, but if you want to be super tricky, you can put a letter or two in there. However, I'll explain why password strength isn't all that important, but having a decently strong password is still invaluable.

Now I'd like to educate you in how your account can be stolen. Because most people have strong passwords, many account-stealers assume that the password will not be cracked. This method is also deterred by many programs locking the account after multiple incorrect attempts. Because of this, gaining direct access to someone's account by guessing the password is a very illogical method, unless the thief has a good clue as to what the password is, which he or she shouldn't since you should never give out your password.

So, how do people gain access to your account? Well, one of the more popular methods is "phishing". Phishing is when you ignorantly give out your password to a site under the guise of being legitimate. I'm sure you could find a phisher on Facebook pretending to be a quiz for which Twilight character you're like the most, but they can also be seen through e-mails. The bottom line is this: keep your password safe and don't give your information out to a website you're unsure about, and be careful of what quizzes you take on Facebook.

However, there is another, more clever way to gain access to someone's account, one that doesn't require much output from you. I don't know if this has a name, but this method is achieved by abusing the "Forgot Password?" utility. A little more than a year ago, Sarah Palin's e-mail made national news when it was "hacked". I don't really like calling it hacking, because that implies it requires someone to be tech-savvy. I'll explain why Palin's hacked e-mail could have been done by any of us at St. Martin's. The guy who gained access to Palin's e-mail used the method I just introduced. He went to password recovery, and it asks the series of questions to prove you are the owner of the e-mail. The three questions asked were ones like, "Where did you meet your husband?" and other questions that were based off of Palin's life. All it took was the Vice Presidential Candidate's Wikipedia page to find the answers, and he then had access to one of the most powerful women of the time.

So be smart even about those things. If your screenname is "BrittanySpearsfan777" (which is my name on imvu), don't make your answer for, "Who is your favorite singer?" Brittany. Make it someone either unknown or someone you haven't mentioned. For instance, BrittanySpearsfan777's favorite singer should instead be Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse. Not only is that hilarious, but an attempted intruder would probably never guess it. Things like these are especially dangerous on Facebook where you give out a lot of your information.

So remember kids, have fun on your internets, but safety comes first.

<3 Shiloh, King of Hearts and Internet Superhero.

P.S. inb4 product spam. I'm waiting for the posts to become lewd.