| One Step Ahead |
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September 23, 2008, Volume 55, No. 5 |
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Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy.
Don't Save Passwords in Browsers
Allowing your web browser to save your ID and passwords, especially at public or shared computers, creates an unnecessary privacy and security risk. Viruses and worms can steal stored passwords, and anyone else who uses your computer could also use your stored passwords.
Needless to say, you should also never save your PennKey password, or passwords for other University systems, in your browser, since this would put Penn data at risk for unauthorized access and use.
Here is how you can remove stored passwords from your web browser:
• Mozilla/Netscape 7.x: First, click on the ‘Tools’ menu, choose ‘Password Manager,’ then choose ‘Manage Stored Passwords.’ You should see a list of sites for which you have chosen to store a password. You can look through the sites one by one until you find the site/password you wish to remove or you can simply click ‘Remove All.’
• Internet Explorer (Windows): Go to ‘Tools,’ ‘Internet Options,’ ‘Content,’ ‘Personal Information,’ ‘AutoComplete.’ Make sure AutoComplete is not enabled for ‘Forms’ or ‘User names and passwords’ on forms.”
• Internet Explorer (OS X): From the Explorer Menu, select ‘Preferences,’ ‘Network, Site Passwords,’ and manage your passwords from there.
• Firefox: From the Firefox menu, choose ‘Preferences.’ Click ‘Security.’ Make sure ‘Remember Passwords for Sites’ is unchecked under Passwords. Click ‘Saved Passwords’ and then ‘Remove All’ to delete all saved passwords.
• Safari: From the Safari menu, choose ‘Preferences.’ Click the ‘Autofill’ tab. Click the ‘Edit’ button next to Usernames and Passwords, and manage your passwords from there.
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