I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. You go to a website and it not only asks you to create a user account, but it also asks if you want to store your username and password so you don’t have to enter it in every time you visit the site.
Convenient? Definitely! But how secure is this? If someone sits down to your computer, can they discover your passwords? This is a real concern as many people use the same password for everything they use on the Internet. If they can access your passwords, they may be able to log in to your TIAA-CREF account and reallocate your investments, access your health records, banking information, and a host of other possibilities.
The answer is, yes. It is actually a very simple matter to access this information. It is easily accessible from all known web-browsers including, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. How can you protect yourself? There are a number of ways. The most important thing that you can do is to not use your Davenport computer for personal, sensitive business, even at break-times. However, you may need to use your work computer for Davenport business at sites that still need to access sensitive information, like ePay, and the 5/3 website when you reconcile your P-card.
The best solution is to never store your password. When it asks to save your password, just say “no.” If “Remember my password on this computer” is already checked, uncheck it. When you are finished with a website, don’t just close the page, log out. Remember to log out of your computer when you walk away for more than a few minutes.
If you would like to make sure all of your current saved passwords are deleted from your PC, call the Customer Support Center. They will be able to walk you through it, or do it for you remotely.
Jim McDonald
0 Response to “Should you store passwords in your browser?”