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A good reason to lock your screen when you’re away…
04 Jun 2008I was just thinking about all the passwords our Web browser(s) want save for us for the sake of convenience. It’s a great feature that I know I couldn’t live without. I know many other people do it too. If you’re one of them, be very, very careful leaving your computer screen unlocked when you leave your desk – especially for lunch, for a meeting, or for the day. What a great way for someone to come along, sit down, and within a minute or two have a field day with your online banking, Amazon, eBay and similar Web accounts.
I know this seems trite but I still see plenty of networks where it’s up to the users to lock their screens…and guess what, they’re usually unlocked. Or, if it’s policy, the screen locking is not configured for a reasonable amount of security (i.e. they timeout in 10+ minutes – plenty of time for misdeeds)….Or, the policies are not being enforced altogether.
So, if anything, do yourself a personal favor and do the three finger salute (CTRL-ALT-DEL) and lock your screen every time you get up from your desk. It only takes 21 days to form a new habit such as this – something that can save you a lot of grief when the time comes for someone to try and take you for a ride.
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I’ve written/co-written 12 books on information security including:
