LapLink MN-LGD011-XX-US manual Monitoring failed log-in attempts, Locking out password crackers

To lock out anyone who repeatedly tries to connect using incorrect passwords:

1Click the Security button on the LinkBar.

2On the Lockout tab, check this box: Lock Out User after Repeated Wrong Passwords.

3In the Lock Out After This Many Wrong Passwords box, click the number you want to allow before Lockout takes effect.

TIP The lower the number, the less the security risk.

4Click OK.

Monitoring failed log-in attempts

Lockout is designed to monitor and control access accord- ing to the log-in names in your Log-in List. A separate count of failed attempts is kept for each log-in name; when a count reaches your maximum (step 3 above), users can no longer connect using that log-in name.

Beside the log-in names listed on the Lockout tab appear numbers for the number of incorrect passwords. When a count reaches the maximum, the log-in name is labeled Locked Out.

You can reset to zero the count for any or all of the log-in names. This action also makes a locked out name usable once again.

TIP Unless a log-in name has been labeled Locked Out, its count is reset to zero automatically whenever a user connects using that log-in name and the correct password. For this reason, only consecutive failed attempts are recorded permanently, not cumulative failed attempts.

. . . Locking out password crackers

To reset to zero the count for a single log-in name:

•Click the log-in name and click the Reset User button.

To reset to zero the count for all log-in names:

•Click the Reset All button.

Tips for more secure passwords

•Use at least six characters.

•Include letters (both lowercase1 and capitals), num- bers, punctuation, and symbols.

•Avoid any words found in dictionaries. (Some pass- word-cracking programs rely on dictionaries to guess passwords.)

•Don’t make your passwords so complex or long that you can’t remember them.

•Change your passwords at regular intervals.

•In order to gain access to your computer in LapLink, a hacker would ALSO need LapLink installed and running on their system, and would need to locate your LapLink host, which is nearly impossible over the internet. If you are using Laplink with a firewall or router, the hacker would need to get around that security as well, before they would be able to attempt to crack passwords. All of this protection makes LapLink Gold Corporate very secure.

1Passwords for incoming connections from versions earlier than LapLink 2000 are the exception. They must be all capital letters.

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