How to safeguard passwords?

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How to safeguard passwords?


Most of the internet websites make it compulsory to register and issue you with an username and a password to login to their website. We may have to remember many such username/passwords for different websites. When accessing these websites the computer will prompt and ask you whether you want to save these passwords for future use. If you say 'yes' then the password that you key in will be stored in your computer. The next time you visit this website and key in the first letter of your username, the computer will auto fill the username/password for you.

Another similar feature is 'Remember password'. Some websites provide this link in their login page. If you select this option while logging in then the password will be stored in your computer and the subsequent visits to this website you need not remember the password.

But saving these passwords to you computer is not safe. Do you know that these passwords can be retrieved by hackers? Moreover many people may access the same computer and may kn ow your username. Therefore they may be able to login to those websites without knowing your password.

The password text box in these websites will just display '*' instead of the actual password. But do you know that there are some softwares that can convert these * (stars) into the actual password?

For example 'See Password' is a software that can do just this. You can download this software at www.seepassword.com.  When you are not around, someone could install this software in your computer. And if they goto the website's login page and key in your username the computer will auto fill the username and password. Password will be displayed as many ****. If this someone then shows the 'See password' icon on top of the ****s the software will clearly show the clear password.

If you are not willing to buy 'See Password' software for $19.99 then you can use the 'View Passwords' free java software. You can download this software from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

How to hide the passwords?


There is no way you can hide the passwords. There are many tools available that can easily look into your computer and retrieve the saved passwords. Therefore the best way to safeguard your passwords is not to store them on your computer. You have to remember them in you head. And as far as possible do not use the 'remember password' or 'remember me' options in websites if your computer is shared by many others.

If you have already saved the passwords in your computer try to clear them. It is best to clear the passwords from your internet explorer options under the 'Content' tab and 'Auto complete' option.

If you are an outlook user and your computer is shared then do not save passwords for your email accounts so that whenever you start outlook it will prompt for the password.