Very little is secure on the internet these days and for proof of that, just wait for the next email you receive from a trusted company – LinkedIn, LastPass, or pick one – asking you to change all your passwords because… hackers have been at it again!
The thing is, remembering passwords has to be one of the great challenges of our age, particularly since any half-way good one requires the abilities ofMnemosyne. And it’s not just a password issue, either. With the internet demonstrably insecure, can you even depend on password strength alone to secure sensitive details, like credit card numbers?
Yes, there is good news, because there are a number of apps available for that (and this post lists our top 3 picks).
Take at least some of the hassle out of forgotten passwords and the ongoing challenge of coming with a new one, protect your transactions and take advantage of public wifi without the risk with these three easy-to-use tools:
1. Password Chef - a recipe for password sucess
Password Chef takes something of a culinary approach to passwords by helping to create ‘recipe’ to generate complex and unique passwords (just coming up with a good password can present its own challenge). The app makers even reckon you’ll be able to remember the passwords easily, too, while also having a unique one for every account you have.
Here’s an example of a Password Chef ‘recipe’:
- Enter the number of vowels in the SITE NAME.
- Capitalize the first three vowels in the SITE NAME and enter them.
- Advance the first three characters in the SITE NAME and enter them.
- Enter your SECRET CODE (f!s#).
That provides a unique password.
How easy the password is to remember is up for discussion.
Explaining exactly how it works is kind of difficult, but that’s what video was invented for – check it out.
2. Privacy – A unique credit card for every transaction
Privacyisn’t just ‘privacy’, it’s also a Google Chrome extension which creates a new ‘virtual credit card’ every time you make an online purchase. That’s pretty clever stuff and, just so you know how legit it is, Privacy is PCI-DSS compliant (that’s the security standard which applies to all payments card companies and banks). What makes us really like Privacy is the simplicity with which it works: sign up, download the Chrome extension, and when paying on any site, the Privacy icon will appear in the card form. Click on that and a virtual card is created, with the rest of the form autofilling. Nice. And easy.
3. Cloak 3.0 – Be safe on public wifi
Admit it, the allure of free public wifi is so strong that you have used it even whilst knowing it is not secured. Drop the guilt and keep the advantages of public wifi with Cloak.Just like Privacy, we like this one a lot because of its simplicity and ease of use: you don’t even know it is there once installed, yet you can connect to and use any wifi network with confidence.
The idea of getting hacked is pretty unnerving, but by taking a few simple precautions, it doesn’t have to be. We hope you found something on this list that you’ll use to stay safe.
