We see too many problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about locked accounts and deleted blogs.
My Google account was suspended because of 'suspicious activities'. Last month, I realized that my two connected blogs, to that account, were also put offline!
Somebody else was unable to use the supplied account / blog recovery tools - and tried guessing what could not be remembered.
The first would be a blog owner, whose only mistake was having a Blogger account with a name similar to another account, owned by the second.
The second would be someone who could not remember her (his) account name / password, could not use account or password recovery, and who got well meaning advice.
Just do the best you can - try what may be your account name, and any passwords that you can remember!
One blog owner must suffer, because another cannot remember login details.
And owner #1 is suffering, because of owner #2. Owner #1 is now anxiously waiting for action by the security experts (with the blind queue of unknown length) to examine his blogs - and possibly, waiting while not knowing why.
Owner #1 may be seeing this - and not know why.
Password guessing may be necessary, in extreme cases - but it can cause misery - and owner #2 will never realise the pain caused to owner #1. Even if owner #2 recovers access to her / his blogs, innocent brute force attempts can cause account lock / blog security lock, to owner #1.
Protect yourself against the anguish, using Google 2-Step Verification.
The best way to protect against this sort of abuse is to use one or more Google Two Step Verification options. This will leave owner #2 seeing (for instance).
Insert your USB security key, and tap the lighted button.
And having no security key, owner #2 will simply have to try guessing a different account name. It may be an inconvenience (for owner #1), carrying a never used USB security key - but the one time it's needed (and available), it will make up for the inconvenience.
One #Blogger blog owner, unable to remember a necessary account name or password, may try guessing what cannot be remembered. Guessing an account name can leave one trying an account that somebody else owns - and can cause account lock and blog deletion for somebody who they will never know.
We see the signs of naivete, periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.
How do I require my readers to enter a password, to keep my blog safe from public view?
This blog owner does not understand the realities of setting up a private blog.
Long ago (very long ago), a computer system might have "private" files, and a shared password, known by everybody, for each file. Nowadays, a private Blogger blog uses team blog access - or team blog ownership - and each team member gets to choose her / his own Blogger account, with a password that he / she decides to use (and hopefully, remember).
Having a group shared password is fine, for a small group, where nobody leaves. What happens when somebody leaves the group?
Group shared pass codes are fine - until the group changes.
Have you ever worked in an office, where the doors are protected by a tumbler key set - or maybe combination push buttons? That's a shared password system. What happens when somebody leaves the group? Every door has to be re keyed - or the locks have to be changed.
What if the blog owner has to change the password for the blog, because somebody shared the password with a stranger - or somebody just left the group? Have you ever gotten to work, and found that your key - or assigned push button combination - doesn't work?
Have you ever had to wait for the department secretary to get to work, and give you a new key, because they changed the locks last week, while you were out of town? Have you had to anxiously search your email, looking for the message from the manager, providing the new password (here's hoping that you can get online, and your computer / phone has a freshly charged battery)?
Personal pass codes promote individual responsibility.
The personal account / password approach is so much more supportable - and it promotes responsibility. Have you ever had the manager ask everybody who came in over the weekend, and left the office in a mess?
With everybody using a common physical key, to open the door, there is no telling who comes and goes. Using individual passwords - or preferably, a card key system - you can audit employee presence, and encourage responsible attendance.
Use personal Blogger / Google accounts, for better security.
Using a personal account / password is so much better than a group shared password. Don't waste time trying to protect your blog, behind a shared password script.
Just make the blog private. Invite designated members - and let each member choose their own account / password, for blog membership.
We see signs of naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken. too often.I gave my boyfriend (girlfriend, former spouse, Internet acquaintance, whatever) my account password - and now, I can't access my account.
This is a problem which Blogger cannot resolve, in any way.
Please, never ever share your Blogger account. Blogger accounts, like Blogger blogs, are free.
If someone who you know would like to read your private blog - or contribute to your team blog - add that person as a blog member, and let her / him use his / her own Blogger account (new, or existing).
There is absolutely no need for you to ever share your Blogger account.
Use private / team blog membership, when applicable.
Shared Blogger accounts carry all of the risks of team blog ownership - and more. Do not share your personal Blogger account to provide private blog membership, or team blog ownership.
Blogger does not provide an option to protect blog content, using a shared password. If you want to password protect blog content, make the blog private, and add readers. Let your readers use their own password (with their own Blogger account).
Split a blog into a security cluster, if necessary.
If you want to password protect a portion of a Blogger blog, break the blog into two portions - the public portion, and the private portion, and provide the private portion as a private blog.
Private blogs, with large reader communities, will require imaginative setup.
If you must have a private blog with more than 100 members, and you cannot use Google+ as an email based distribution medium, setup a read only account to access the blog - and let the members share that Blogger account.
If you setup a shared Blogger account as a blog member (read only), you'll need to maintain a separate mailing list of all shared members. Use BCC to email everybody (don't share everybody's email address with everybody else), giving them the shared account name and password. Save the mailing list, carefully.
With 100+ shared account members, chances are that one day, somebody will change the password on the account, and lock out everybody else. You'll have to then setup a new Blogger account, make that account a new read only blog member, cancel the old member, and email everybody with the new shared account name and password.
If you must have a community, of over 100 members, and let everybody share (not just read), use Google+ - or setup a wiki based website. Your needs are far beyond the ability of Blogger.
When another person works on the blog, they can use their own account.
If you need someone else to work on the blog, make them a blog member or administrator - with their own Blogger account. If their usefulness is temporary, when they are done, revoke their access to the blog - then verify that they did not leave any back door code behind.
Your account name and password is your personal identity.
In any case, keep your account and password (and the blog ownership) private, to you.
Use common sense. Do not share your Blogger account.
- Do not share your Blogger account with your boyfriend.
- Do not share your Blogger account with your girlfriend.
- Do not share your Blogger account with your husband.
- Do not share your Blogger account with your wife.
- Do not share your Blogger account with your boss.
- Do not share your Blogger account with your employee.
- Do not share your Blogger account with your collaborator.
I've warned everybody that team blogs are security risks - but they are way safer than team Blogger accounts.
- Do not wear other peoples underpants.
- Do not share your Blogger account.
Both are rules to live by.
Recently, we see a few reports from nervous bloggers.From time to time, the following message appears in a box at the top of my main Gmail (My Blogger login, my Google login, etc) page: Hey, this is important: we don't have a password recovery email address or phone number for your account. If you lose your access, we may not be able to help you.
Is this a scam (Is this phishing?) (Is this spam?)...
In computer security, it's never a bad idea to be skeptical. It's one way of limiting the effects of CKI Faults. But when you are doing something intentional, using (what should be) a trusted product, like Google, and you get advice like this, heed the advice - please.
You don't need to do something dodgy, like answer an email, and provide your account name / password / drivers license number. But take this as a warning.
Check the email address associated with your Blogger account, and make sure it is one that you can use easily, when needed. Now. If your account does not have a working email address, and you ever forget the password, you'll not be able to execute a password reset. Then, you will be hurting.
This message, if you see it when logging in to Blogger, GMail, or Google, is not a scam. It's Google strongly suggesting that you ensure that your password recovery (account backdoor) email address is operational.
Check your email addresses, now. Now!
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Security awareness, in almost every feature of every computer application, operating system, and security program, is reaching an intense level. Any time that you enter a password, don't be watching the screen and counting the number of "*" or "#" characters displayed there, expecting the count to match the number of characters you know that you put in the password.
Just in case there's somebody standing behind you, shoulder surfing your password entry process, a masked password of "n" number of characters won't necessarily be displayed as "n" number of "*" or "#" characters on the screen.
Blogger is part of the paranoia, too. In various places where Blogger accepts entry of a password, after you hit "Enter" or "Save", the number of "*" may change. This is to keep people from walking up to the screen, counting the number of "*" displayed there, and guessing that 7 "*" could be your wife's name. Or maybe the car that you drive. Or ... (I'm sure that you get the picture by now). When you see the number of "*" suddenly reduced, if you don't pay close attention, you might think that it's truncating the entry.
The above describes interactive entry of a password, after it's been set in a database. In one case, FTP password entry, this appears to be the case when you're setting the password for accessing the host server, for later use when you publish your blog.
As you enter a password, keep the count in your head. Don't be expecting to see the count verified on the screen, before or after you hit "Enter", consistently.
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