Your Windows Live ID is essentially your online identity for all of the Windows Live services, Xbox Live, Zune and other third party websites (such as Expedia.com) that utilize Windows Live ID. If you're using Windows Live Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger, your Windows Live ID stores all your contacts and email messages. Your Windows Live ID is definitely something you don't want to have compromised and I've got several pointers - or best practices - in keeping your Windows Live ID safe.

Do not hand out your password! Don't give anyone your password to your Windows Live ID. Handing out your password to anyone is simply asking for trouble. Don't even give out your password to friends or family. I can't imagine a reason why they would need it. Just don't give out your Windows Live ID credentials at all.

Be careful giving your Windows Live credentials on non-Microsoft websites. There are some websites out there that will claim they "require" your Windows Live ID credentials for their service. Some sites use this tactic to gain access to your Windows Live ID.

Fact: Microsoft will only ask for your Windows Live ID credentials on login.live.com and nowhere else!

Use a strong password for your Windows Live ID. Don't use common words or names. Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

 

Don't use an obvious answer to your secret question. Microsoft provides a list of possible "secret questions" for your account. A secret question is used when you forget your password for your Windows Live ID. Choose a secret question that has an answer that people won't be able to guess (friends, family, etc). The risk you have in using a secret question with an answer your friends might be able to guess is that your friends can try to "hack" your Windows Live ID and have fun with you. Your secret answer must have 5 characters or more and is not case sensitive. Remember to remember your secret answer of course.

Added protection: make your password expire every 72 days. You can login to account.live.com and change your password for your Windows Live ID and configure it to expire every 72 days. I personally don't choose this option rather I change my password every couple weeks on my own.

Neelamadhaba Mahapatro, General Manager for Microsoft's Identity Services (including Windows Live ID) has a post over on the Windows Live Dev Blog explaining Microsoft ongoing to commitment to keeping your Windows Live ID safe and what's being done today to protect Windows Live ID users from phishing.

As you may have read, the Beta release of Windows Live OneCare 2.5 is now available on Microsoft Connect for folks to start testing. I of course went ahead and installed Windows Live OneCare 2.5 to give it a spin myself. So what's new with Windows Live OneCare 2.5? After installing the Beta myself, I didn't notice anything different over the non-Beta version. I decided to ping the Windows Live OneCare team to see what we can expect with Windows Live OneCare 2.5. They tell me that the Windows Live OneCare 2.5 release is mainly what they call an "under-the-hood" release. That means that we won't see any big  new features like the great OneCare Circle introduced in 2.0.  Going forward with the Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Beta - continue to expect the improvements and changes to remain "under-the-hood" and not very noticeable in the UI.

In testing the Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Beta, I noticed after installing it on one of my PCs and signing in with my Windows Live ID that contains my OneCare Subscription - it was not displaying my OneCare Circle. This was because I was running the non-Beta version of Windows Live OneCare on my other PCs. When signing in with your Windows Live ID that contains your OneCare Subscription in Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Beta - it creates a new subscription for testing purposes. In order for me to take advantage of my complete OneCare Circle, I will need to install Windows Live OneCare 2.5 on my other PCs. I don't have to worry because this won't affect my OneCare Subscription in any way and I can always uninstall Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Beta and go back to the non-Beta version of Windows Live OneCare.

Interesting in giving Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Beta a try? Just click here to go to Microsoft Connect and fill out the short survey. All feedback for Windows Live OneCare 2.5 Beta should be submitted via Microsoft Connect.

Remember - it's important to stay "green" with Windows Live OneCare. And by that, we mean keeping your OneCare status green ;-)