Everyone knows, either in the front or back of their mind, a password should be secure. Of course, some passwords are naturally more important than others, for example your online banking credentials are much more important than those of a message board you might only visit once in a while.
For important passwords, it is a very good idea to use a strong password. A seemingly random sequence of characters which is meaningful (for lack of better words) is the best approach. This article on Microsoft gives great suggestions for creating a secure password. I took several things from it:
Avoid using only look-alike substitutions of numbers or symbols. Criminals and other malicious users who know enough to try and crack your password will not be fooled by common look-alike replacements, such as to replace an ‘i’ with a ’1′ or an ‘a’ with ‘@’ as in “M1cr0$0ft” or “P@ssw0rd”. But these substitutions can be effective when combined with other measures, such as length, misspellings, or variations in case, to improve the strength of your password.
The section titled “Create a strong, memorable password in 6 steps” I found most helpful and used the techniques to sure up some of my more important passwords.
Like what you read?
If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:
A trick I’ve always liked that lets you write a password reminder in the open is this: Create a password that’s a combination of several personal facts and leave a note to that effect.
“Dad’s alma mater, the first three digits of Suzy’s phone number in college, and Jimmy’s favorite band.”
notredame867thekinks
Not perfect, but easier than remembering something off the wall.
It’s good to see people interested in password security! But after creating strong and unique passwords the question always remains – how are you going to memorize all of them? Hopefully not by storing them in e-mail accounts or on your computer.
Choose and use a password manager:
http://passpack.wordpress.com/2007/01/19/why-you-must-use-a-password-manager/
Louise Vinciguerra (PassPack)