Section: Structure of the Internet
...Subsection: The DNS system
... ...Subsubsection: Passwords

Security is an important consideration in the Internet world. The computer has know way of knowing who you are. Most LANs or mainframes require each user to log in, or sign on to the system. To do this, you type in your userid at a prompt. You are then prompted for a password.

passwords are special codes you use to 'lock' your account. Obviously you need to be careful about protecting your password if you are building nuclear power plants or something, but what about the rest of us?

A student recently got some help from her friend on email. She gave him her password to a class account, and he wrote it down. Apparently some of his buddies found the password and logged in using the student's userid and password, and sent a very obscene message to the class. The student nearly lost her account, because she had been sloppy with her password.

Change your password regularly!

Some hints:

• Don't use your dog's name. People will guess it
• Don't use words in English, people can hook up spell checkers
• Consider combining words and numbers