While the title of this post might look like I’m swearing about passwords (more about that in a minute), it’s really about keeping your personal data safe by making sure you use “secure” passwords.

Data security has always been an important topic but thanks to Wikileaks and the Gawker hack, it just got hotter.

Whether we like it or not, there is a lot of personal data about us floating around the Internet.  Sadly and scarily, much of it is out of our direct control. You don’t even have to own a computer or surf the web for your information to make it’s way there.  Think banking and medical records that we trust others to safeguard for us.

However, if you are reading this, chances are that you have an online identity and that you have probably left some digital footprints behind. I’m sure that you thought really long and hard about that personal password that no one will ever be able to crack. And heck, it’s tough to remember passwords so you might have used that perfect one everywhere “important.” Uh oh…

Back to the Gawker hack. In case you are not familiar with Gawker, it’s a very popular blog that owns and manages a lot of popular websites including one that I was particularly fond of: Lifehacker. I can’t really remember why but somewhere along the line I left my digital footprint (aka super secret special password) at Lifehacker.

Ironically, some of my favorite Lifehacker articles were on web security and, you guessed it, PASSWORDS! I learned a lot from the site including information about some great products like LastPass which I downloaded and installed on my computer and iPhone.  Problem was that I did this AFTER I registered with Lifehacker. They got hacked and now I’m one of the millions of users who’s email address and super secret special password was published on the Internet by the bad guys.

Maybe I should be swearing at Gawker and Lifehacker but really it was my own fault. (Clearly my respect for them is greatly diminished and my trust is now non-existent.) I should have known better. No. I did know better but I was lazy or sloppy or too much in a hurry. Lesson learned.

Here’s a link to a good, quick, simple video about secure passwords by Common Craft. Invest 3 1/2 minutes and watch it.

Then go over to LastPass and download one of their security tools. There are free and paid versions and they are super easy to set up and use. No excuses!

Remember your #r%4Y$k! Passwords!