Protect and remember your password.

Your password is your key, your signature, your thumbprint, your unique identification. For our own protection, we have to deal with them; we have to keep track.

Online business is secure and most of the time, worry-free. There is a lesser chance for identity theft when you transact online. When you choose to eliminate paper bills and have online statement via email instead, you lessen the amount of mail with your information in ink. Thus, it is really wiser to do your business online. It is more convenient, except for the issue of forgotten passwords.

Transactions in the internet rely heavily on passwords because there is no face-to-face interaction involved. Anyone who has the right password is given access to an account whether he is the real account holder. So, company websites, especially online banking, have been very strict with the selection of passwords. In most cases, you have to select a combination of letters and numbers, and of small and capital letters. They also remind you not to use your obvious information like birthdays and middle names.  And every so often, you have to change your password, too.

Some company websites have even added a picture that the account holder has to identify. Others have security questions asked before allowing access.  These are measures that online businesses have to take in order to protect their customers and clients.

But the thing with passwords, they easily slip away. That’s why there is always a link in log-in boxes that says forgot password? But for people who have no patience to wait until their passwords are emailed, they would just try and try until they get in.

Most websites would only allow you up to three times to log in with a wrong password. After the third attempt, the account log-in will be disabled for as long as 24 hours. Then you would have to call a toll-free number and talk to customer service. They would verify if you are really the person who owns the account before they would give you a temporary password just to get in.

Your computer can remember the password for you. If you do this, you have to make sure that you are the only one using the computer. Since this is not the situation for most of us, it is just better to keep a list of your usernames and passwords. You can create a document that has all your passwords for all the accounts you have. It is easier to make one on Excel. Have rows for account name, username, and passwords.

One good thing to do is not to spell out your passwords so if someone gets a hold of your list, your accounts are still protected. Suppose you have an account with wowezine.com and your username is baby and your password is boomer: instead of spelling out boomer, just put b****r.

Since, passwords are created to protect your account, it is equally important to protect your passwords.