Some Thoughts About Information Security
The author of InfoMagic suggests that you can save a list of credit card
account information in this utility. He includes encryption and password
protection- for such types of data, I would certainly advise using them.
Although the likelihood of getting hacked is very remote, it does happen.
It seems like almost every month a new security hole is revealed in
existing commercial software.
I would not enter my own sensitive financial data in my computer- especially
credit card data-
because there is an internet connection! While it is a good idea to have a
complete list of your credit card data, I would suggest that it is safer to write
it down on paper and put it where you can find it easily
in the event your credit cards are stolen. Even the most skilled and
determined hacker can not steal your credit information if you do not
have it in your computer. My belief is that home computers should
be viewed as non-secure media and used accordingly.
Regarding memory (your own recall abilities), it is important to realize that this
clever little utility is supposed to serve as a memory aid, but since data
is mass stored in larger text files, everything ultimately depends upon
your own ability to remember keywords. The fastest way to recover stored
information is through keyword searches. There are two implications here-
first, if your memory is really bad, this program may not be for you (but it
will work very well for almost everyone!). Secondly, it is important to
realize that trying to get clever and creative with 'stealthy' keywords will
probably backfire on you. It is best to use very plain and logical keywords that
you are likely to remember if you are trying to recall the information.
Usually the text itself will suffice, containing words that will occur to you
when you want to do a search. You can also insert keywords of your
own anywhere in the text, and you can also use the timestamp feature
to allow you to recover data later by date.
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