A Whole New Reason To Secure The Best VPN Services: HTTPS Isn't As Secure As You Thought

On the internet there is a system in place to keep financial and other confidential and sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands: Secure Sockets Layer. This is a method of encrypting and decrypting the data transferred to, and from, the website or server you are communicating with. But according to a report released recently by the Trustworthy Internet Movement (TIM,) you may need to start using the best VPN services you can find to further secure the communications.

What Is This Movement About

One project that TIM undertook was the determination of the security of some 200,000 registered HTTPS websites. They developed a scanning program called SSL Pulse which scans websites for known vulnerabilities and hacking methods including page spoofing, man-in-the-middle, and brute force attacks. The scanner then returned the results to TIM who analyzed them and found that of the 200,000 registered secured websites only 10% were truly secure. This, assuming that the visitor isn't using any of the best VPN services. The scanner checked many SSL protocols, SSL 2.0, SSL 3.0, and TLS protocols, along with all the latest encryption ciphers, and key lengths.

How They Were Rated And The Scores

Websites were rated on a basis of 1 - 100, which was then converted into a grading system... an "A" being a score of 80 or more points. And while at least half received an A, only 10% showed up as totally secure from exploitation. In site of the high ratings though, at least 75%, or 148,000 websites, were found to be vulnerable to a popular exploit called "BEAST." Beast uses cookies and authentication tokens to invade the secured stream. This is a hack revealed in the 2011 security conference in Buenos Aires and will work on SSL/TLS block encryption ciphers such as AES and Triple-DES, but doesn't affect any of the best VPN services protocols like OpenVPN, or PPTP.

How To Tell If Your Communications Are Secured

First of all I want to emphasize: Do not stop using your HTTPS websites. For the most part, they are fairly secure. But you may consider enlisting the best VPN services provider you can afford and using it when you are conducting transactions that you want to keep confidential. A spokesman for the group said that "For your average Web site -- which will not have anything of substantial value -- the risk is probably very small." Then he went on to say that the larger institutions, like financial websites, have a much larger potential for being exploited. By using one of the best VPN services, and always allowing your browser to check the website security certificate, this larger risk can be averted.

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What Makes a Password Secure?

In today's modern age, passwords have become a common practice in many facets of our lives. From basic email accounts to social media sites and even banking records, passwords are intended to keep our information private, safe, and secure. So what makes a password secure? What helps to keep your personal information from being compromised?

The answer is a combination of factors that you need to keep in mind no matter what kind of website you are accessing or setting up an account for. The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that even though you may know a number of people, you never know every single one of them intimately. Are you certain that the friend of a friend whom you met last week is honest and full of integrity? What if your password for your bank account happened to be the name of your favorite actress? Would this person have figured that out and right now, at this moment, be accessing your information, transferring funds to his own account, and leaving you broke?

Sure, that is not likely happening right now to you, but it happens to people all around the world. Every single day. People they thought they knew, people whom they thought they trusted are breaking into their accounts and stealing money from them because they didn't use a secure password.

So What Makes a Password Secure?

The bottom line about what makes a password secure is that it is something that a person who knows at least a little about you couldn't guess what it is. We have a tendency to create passwords that are easy to remember. Birth dates, favorite teams, names of children, schools we attended, and so on.

There's an inherent fear that too many people have that if they choose a relatively random password, then they'll forget what it is and have to deal with the hassle of having a new one sent to them and having to change it all over again. Yes, it's a burden when this happens but you know what? Wouldn't you prefer to go through that once in a while rather than wake up one morning to find out you've been robbed?

Create a password that is seemingly random. It doesn't have to be random, though. It merely needs to have the appearance of randomness. There was a popular movie years ago in which a seemingly random set of letters and numbers was mentioned by one of the main characters. This made a great password when combined with another phrase.

What About Storing Your Password?

You do want to make sure that you keep your passwords stored in a safe place somewhere that you can find, should you need it. Don't jot them down on sticky notes and have them on or around the computer. Keep them in a booklet in a safe place where only you know where it is. Your online safety and security is far more important than creating a sense of convenience. Protect yourself and make sure your password is secure.

An Explanation of CISPA for Small Businesses   Protect Your Privacy With Reputation Management   Top 5 Reasons to Check Website Security   Why Ignoring IDS Could Lead to Substantial Damage for Businesses