If you are a regular reader of Loginhelper you know that security does not end with the selection of a strong account password. The password may be the most important aspect, but there are other factors to consider. This includes making sure you are on the right site before you key in your login name and password, or protecting your email account that is connected to Facebook.
Facebook’s Security Settings can further improve your security when interacting with the social networking site. This short guide looks at all available options, and explains how to best configure the settings to protect your Facebook account.
You can load this page or click on the down arrow, select Account Settings and then Security to open the settings page.
We have seen many attacks on user account information in the past years. These kind of attacks have increased as the Internet moved forward to become everyone’s favorite pasttime, and even more than that. Attackers are still making use of phishing attacks, mostly by sending out mass mails, to steal login, financial and identity related information. A second group has moved on though and started to hack the servers and websites directly to download their databases.
With part of the user base selecting weak passwords, it is easy to parse through the database to get a list of working passwords in record time.
Good security begins with a strong password. Opinions differ a lot when it comes to the definition of strong. Most agree that users should not pick dictionary words (like apple), first or last names, teams, brands or other words that may make their way on a word list. If you are asking me, I’d say your password should at least have 12 characters, and if possible at least one upper char, one lower char, one number and one special char. Tgo5ggg3dc_rr4 would be a strong password.
Strong passwords are just the beginning though. Some websites for instance may save your password in plain text. It is a security taboo, as it provides attackers who download the site’s database with all the information they need to wreak maximum havoc on the site and its users.
That’s one of the reasons why 2-factor authentication is so important. This basically adds another log in layer to the login process. Facebook and Google make use of 2-factor authentication.
2-factor authentication
With 2-factor authentication enabled, you will receive a code on your mobile phone or device that you need to enter to complete the login process. An attacker who managed to steal your username and password, for instance with a keylogger, would not be able to log in to the site if the additional authentication step had been enabled previously.
Google users can enable 2-step verification in their Google account. This link opens the Account Settings page on the Google website
You need to click on the edit link next to 2-step verification to configure the security layer. Please note that you need to enter a mobile phone number during setup. This is the number that Google will send the codes to whenever they are needed.
I suggest you open the official announcement post over at the official Google blog site to read up on the instructions.
Facebook’s 2-factor authentication system works slightly different than Google’s. It only asks for a code if a user tries to log in from a new device. It is still important to activate it to improve the account security.
You can configure the feature here on Facebook’s Security Settings page.
Please note that you need to have a mobile phone number configured in your account to complete the setup.
Are you worried about the security of your Facebook account? That someone might guess or steal your login for instance? We have covered all the need to knows in our Facebook Login Guide that details how you can make your account more secure, and how to recover it if you have forgotten your sign in information or if someone else managed to get into your account without your approval.
The Facebook Security Quit is a short quiz to raise awareness for security related issues on the popular social networking site.
Users of the social networking site can access the quiz on this page.
One of the things that Internet users can do to improve their sign in security is to make sure that the sites that they connect to is offering connections via https. Why is that important? Because it encrypts the data transfer between the user’s computer and the server they are connecting to.
This protects the traffic from network snooping, for instance on public computer networks, by the Internet Service Provider or the government, as well as from attempts to tamper with the data that is send and received. HTTPS does not conceal the site urls that you access in the browser on the other hand.
The Kaiser Permanente website, like many other Internet sites out there, displays a members login on the site’s frontpage. Members can use the login to sign in into a protected members area. It is only natural that part of the user base of Kaiser Permanente is experiencing sign in issues on the site. This can be attributed to technical issues on the user’s computer or issues on the KP website.
Here is a screenshot of the Kaiser Permanente members sign on form on the company homepage.
Roadrunner is fast becoming an extremely popular webmail platform for cable subscribers. It’s an easy to use email messaging system where you can check on your email messages from any computer in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. Naturally though with all online websites that operate in “the cloud”, there may be times when you experience login problems. A login problem on roadrunner could be when the service isn’t working properly, or maybe if you’ve forgotten your password. There may also be times when the service is simply down for maintenance or the login page has some kind of problem, but this is rare. As with most sites, roadrunner website technicians are on call to sort out any major problem, so if for some reason the site isn’t working and you’re absolutely sure it’s not your fault, you can expect the roadrunner login page to work again very quickly indeed.
Live.com is Microsoft’s all in one authentication service where you can register and then use the same credentials for many different things. For example, if you own an Xbox, or have a Windows Live Messenger account, or if you use Hotmail, then you’ll already have a Windows live.com sign in.
Many people like having one single username and password to access services they use regularly. It saves the need to remember multiple passwords, and in this day and age when there seems to be so many different websites needing usernames and passwords to access them, having less to remember is a godsend. A single sign in point also means that once you’ve used your live.com sign in to access one service, you’ll also be able to access all the other services too. Your computer should remember your credentials in its memory, or cache, and not bother you again.
Photobucket is one of the most popular video and photo hosting websites on the Internet these days. It is only natural that some users of the hosting service experience login issues. Probably one thing that makes it more difficulty is the fact that users can log in with a Photobucket account, or with their Twitter or Facebook login instead. That’s three different ways to log in and three different approaches to fixing the login.
The first thing that users need to do when facing login issues on Photobucket, is to lean back and analyze what they see. Is the page loading at all, do they get an error message? Can they enter their login data? What’s happening then, do they see a login error, a blank page, nothing at all? There are hundreds of possibilities here. Lets start with the basics and go from there.
It is probably a good idea to start with an explanation and go from there. Login Software refers to applications and tools that are linked to log ins. They can be used to manage all your account logins, to sign you in automatically on sites, or to perform other tasks like generating secure passwords to make sure that passwords cannot be guessed by attackers.
Login Software
The software comes in two major forms: First as web browser plugins and second as standalone applications for the desktop. Both types have their distinct advantages and disadvantages.
Gmail, which stands for Google Mail, is one of the top email services on today’s Internet. With popularity comes the need to provide sufficient support for users who are encountering technical difficulties. Gmail Support is limited to getting help on the Internet. There is no phone number or address that you can direct your support requests to. You can either try the official help documents, post a request for help in the official Gmail support forum or send a message to Gmail’s Twitter account. Continue reading »
