HideMyAss has added 32 new servers in 9 countries to their network this month. This gives HMA users 1244 fresh IP addresses to choose from. See here how other top-rate VPN providers are keeping up. They have also added some tips for not only creating strong passwords to secure their data but how to keep those passwords safe as well.
December HMA Server Additions
The 32 new HMA servers are spread over 9 different countries all over the world. There are two new servers each in Sydney, Australia with 251 IP addresses, and Oslo, Norway with 248 IP addresses. Taiwan has one additional server providing 124 new IPs. There are four new servers each in Saudi Arabia, Germany and the Netherlands. The new Germany servers are in Frankfurt and Munich with 386 IP addresses between them. The Netherlands servers are in Amsterdam and Dronten providing 248 and 244 IPs respectively. The new Amsterdam server is actually a virtual US server. These virtual types provide faster connections. The four Saudi Arabian servers are in Riyadh offering a total of 93 IP addresses. The UK has 6 new servers. There is one each in Manchester (124 IPs) and Maidenhead (60 IPs) and two each in Nottingham (120 IPs) and Reading (128 IPs). The US has 8 new servers. One is in Rockville, Maryland with 123 IP addresses. Two each go to Troy, Michigan (114 IP addresses) and Trumbull, Connecticut (256 IP addresses), and St. Louis, Missouri has three providing a total of 192 new IPs.
Secure Password Tips
The first thing about passwords is generating secure ones. Many know that passwords need to be at least 16 characters long to be secure. And they should be made up randomly, using all kinds of special characters letters, and numbers. But password security doesn’t stop there. Storing a password securely is the next very important step. Passwords can be stolen, so the safest place for them is in your memory, not your computer memory. But random password strings are very hard to remember. The next best thing is to write them down on paper, without indicating what they are for. Then keep this piece of paper in a safe place where no one else can get it. For additional security, write them down differently, like with a code, then memorize that decryption code. For instance, take every third character and put it at the end of the string. Or use an 8 to indicate “$” or “<” to mean the letter C. You can also switch out dates or words that are similar like use your sister’s birthday to mean your brother’s anniversary. If you do store your password on your computer or in a cloud, it must be encrypted. Better yet, use a secure password manager like KeePass or LastPass. Or save it on a removable storage device in a protected compressed file. Then always update your security software and use your VPN when you access the file.
