Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Back when you first started using Internet Explorer (IE), it asked you if you wanted the program to remember your passwords so you wouldn't need to type them in again. Chances are pretty good you let IE have its way. IE is possibly storing your passwords even now.
Here are some points to consider about allowing IE to save your passwords:
Your passwords are sitting around in a file somewhere. Even though they're protected and encrypted, you might not trust IE to absolutely, positively keep the passwords safe from every clever virus or worm that's running around. Is this paranoia? Perhaps not.
If you don't type your passwords on a semi-regular basis, you'll forget what they are. Memory's the second thing to go, right?
Anyone casually walking by your PC, who can log on to Windows with your ID, can then log on to any site and pretend to be you. That's particularly distressing if any of your credit card information has ever been entered on any form — and your bank accounts.
The minute you let anyone sit down at your PC, he or she can break anything on it. It should send shivers down your spine that anybody who can guess your Windows password immediately has access to any Web site, and he or she can do anything you can do (in your name), including shopping with your credit card or sending wire transfers from your bank account.
Don't let IE hold onto your passwords. Period. To keep IE from storing away your passwords, follow these steps:
1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Choose Tools --> Internet Options --> Content.
IE shows you the Internet Options dialog box.
3. Click AutoComplete.
IE brings up the AutoComplete Settings dialog box.
In general, to save time, you want to have IE remember the Web addresses that you type. If don't like the idea of IE storing your credit card number to be used automatically when filling out forms on the Web, then uncheck the Forms box. That's a tough choice for timesavers because it also tells IE that it shouldn't store your name, address, phone number, and so on, to use on forms. You're potentially saving yourself more than simple time by playing it safe.
Use Table 1 to figure out how to handle the last two check boxes.
4. In the Use AutoComplete For area, choose the settings that work best for you.
5. If you want to clear out any of IE's current AutoComplete data, click the appropriate button.
If you click Clear Passwords, IE deletes all the passwords that it has stored. If you click Clear Forms, all the data IE has — including all user names and passwords, in addition to addresses, telephone numbers and the like — gets the heave-ho.
6. Click OK twice.
Table 1: Consequences of Internet Explorer AutoComplete Options
User Names and Passwords on Forms
Prompt Me to Save Passwords
IE Does This
Checked
Checked
IE stores all the user names you enter on forms, but it stores passwords only if you explicitly give permission when you type the password.
If you can remember to tell IE that it's okay to remember relatively unimportant passwords (say, the password to log on to a news site, or a vendor's support site), but can always remember to tell IE to not remember important passwords (for example, on a banking site), this is a good, timesaving combination.
Checked
Not Checked
This is the most dangerous combination. IE remembers all the user names and passwords that you enter and offers them when anyone using your Windows ID reaches the logon Web page.
Not Checked
N/A
IE doesn't store any user names or passwords. The most secure, but most time-consuming, option.
If you want to delete some AutoComplete entries (such as your credit card numbers) but want to use others (such as your name and address), there's a way. The next time you fill out a form on the Web and you see some data you don't want IE to remember, double-click the box that's coming up with your sensitive data, and then click the unwanted entry once and press Delete. That gets rid of it.
Here are some points to consider about allowing IE to save your passwords:
Your passwords are sitting around in a file somewhere. Even though they're protected and encrypted, you might not trust IE to absolutely, positively keep the passwords safe from every clever virus or worm that's running around. Is this paranoia? Perhaps not.
If you don't type your passwords on a semi-regular basis, you'll forget what they are. Memory's the second thing to go, right?
Anyone casually walking by your PC, who can log on to Windows with your ID, can then log on to any site and pretend to be you. That's particularly distressing if any of your credit card information has ever been entered on any form — and your bank accounts.
The minute you let anyone sit down at your PC, he or she can break anything on it. It should send shivers down your spine that anybody who can guess your Windows password immediately has access to any Web site, and he or she can do anything you can do (in your name), including shopping with your credit card or sending wire transfers from your bank account.
Don't let IE hold onto your passwords. Period. To keep IE from storing away your passwords, follow these steps:
1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Choose Tools --> Internet Options --> Content.
IE shows you the Internet Options dialog box.
3. Click AutoComplete.
IE brings up the AutoComplete Settings dialog box.
In general, to save time, you want to have IE remember the Web addresses that you type. If don't like the idea of IE storing your credit card number to be used automatically when filling out forms on the Web, then uncheck the Forms box. That's a tough choice for timesavers because it also tells IE that it shouldn't store your name, address, phone number, and so on, to use on forms. You're potentially saving yourself more than simple time by playing it safe.
Use Table 1 to figure out how to handle the last two check boxes.
4. In the Use AutoComplete For area, choose the settings that work best for you.
5. If you want to clear out any of IE's current AutoComplete data, click the appropriate button.
If you click Clear Passwords, IE deletes all the passwords that it has stored. If you click Clear Forms, all the data IE has — including all user names and passwords, in addition to addresses, telephone numbers and the like — gets the heave-ho.
6. Click OK twice.
Table 1: Consequences of Internet Explorer AutoComplete Options
User Names and Passwords on Forms
Prompt Me to Save Passwords
IE Does This
Checked
Checked
IE stores all the user names you enter on forms, but it stores passwords only if you explicitly give permission when you type the password.
If you can remember to tell IE that it's okay to remember relatively unimportant passwords (say, the password to log on to a news site, or a vendor's support site), but can always remember to tell IE to not remember important passwords (for example, on a banking site), this is a good, timesaving combination.
Checked
Not Checked
This is the most dangerous combination. IE remembers all the user names and passwords that you enter and offers them when anyone using your Windows ID reaches the logon Web page.
Not Checked
N/A
IE doesn't store any user names or passwords. The most secure, but most time-consuming, option.
If you want to delete some AutoComplete entries (such as your credit card numbers) but want to use others (such as your name and address), there's a way. The next time you fill out a form on the Web and you see some data you don't want IE to remember, double-click the box that's coming up with your sensitive data, and then click the unwanted entry once and press Delete. That gets rid of it.
