Using password security in Remote Assistance

If you send an invitation in an e-mail message, you should specify a strong password for the assistant to use, in order to protect your computer from someone pretending to be your helper.

Strong passwords are important because the tools and computers that people use to guess passwords continue to improve. Passwords that once took weeks to break can now be broken in hours.

Remember to communicate the password (for example, in an e-mail message) to your assistant beforehand.

The password should:

Be at least seven characters long.
Contain letters, numerals, and symbols.
Have at least one symbol character in the second through sixth positions.
Be significantly different from prior passwords.
Not contain your name or user name.
Not be a common word or name.

Note

If you set a password, the person you invite will need to know it in order to connect to your computer. The password is not automatically sent to the invitee.