What We'll Learn
Why do we need online accounts
How to use accounts safely
Managing passwords
View some of the products Google has to offer
Learn more about the benefits of a Microsoft account
If you don't already have a Google account, you can use this tutorial to help you set one up.
One of the challenges that come with online accounts is trying to remember your passwords. Sometimes people use the same password for all their accounts, but that poses a significant security risk since someone would just have to crack one account to have access to all accounts.
Here's a few things to remember about password security:
Use strong passwords that are not easy to crack or for someone else to guess
Use unique passwords, especially for email and banking
Use effective password recovery questions and contact information
Use a password safe
What Is a Password Safe?
A password safe is a secure storage facility for all your passwords. All you need to do is remember a single password to access your safe, and the safe will remember everything else. A great example of an easy to use, popular password safe is PasswordBox.
Finding Interesting Stuff
Large companies like Google produces a line of products. Having an account with Google or Microsoft gives you access to multiple products using the same login and password.
When you put your money into the bank, you set up an account so that the bank can clearly track and identify what belongs to you. Your account allows you to easily identify yourself to the bank so you can access information about your money or withdraw and deposit more funds.
In the same way, Internet Service Accounts identify who you are so that you can store information and preferences that are available to you every time you use that service. For example, your email address and password are used to access all of your email and to use the post office services that send and receive email to your computer or device.
When you are asked to log in to an Internet service, you are basically identifying yourself to get secure access to your private information. Often the same account can be used to access many different services.