[Gllug] security check

[Paul Rayner]

On 10 Aug 2009, at 22:29, Lucy Peters wrote:

>
> I have a word document file to remind myself of my bank details and  
> various passwords.
> Do you think they could have hacked into it ? If they did, how do I  
> stop them doing that?
>
It's unlikely that your details were taken from this file. As  
Caroline said, it's much more likely that your details were taken  
during a transaction in the "real world", however, it's a really bad  
idea to keep your passwords in a file like this.

If you *really* have to write this information down, you've got a few  
options to increase the security of the data:

1) Encrypt the file using something like gpg (giving you one password  
you'll have to commit to memory) which would make accessing the  
contents much harder (but not impossible as a copy will exist in  
memory or temporary storage when it's opened and for a time afterwards).

2) Don't write down the passwords, just write down hints which will  
remind you (but nobody else) of them. For example, if your password  
was 'lamppost', you might write 'shiny' which would jog your memory  
but not give enough info for someone to work out the password. 'Tall  
nightlight', however, would be a bad prompt :-). You could also add  
random numbers to your bank details, and increment each number by a  
given amount.

3) If using 2), but not 1), consider using paper and hiding it  
somewhere. That way someone would need physical access to your house  
to look at it.

Personally, I just take the time to commit all of my passwords, bank  
details, etc. to memory.

> Lucy
>
Regards,

Paul
--
Paul Rayner
Ylem Solutions Ltd
Paul.Rayner at YlemSolutions.com



-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug