Creating strong passwords

Safe passwords don’t have to be hard to create; they just have to be hard to guess.

The prospect of creating a strong password, changing a password or using multiple passwords makes many people anxious because they believe it requires memorizing multiple complex passwords such as Wts4e_79PBa13^_qnS. 

The result is that people find the task so daunting that they continue to use one simple password. This just isn’t safe particularly if the password is a simple one. If that one password gets compromised, all of your Web information is compromised.

Some people use several passwords, but these passwords are short, simple words or include numbers that relate to their personal information (such as birth date or address) and so are easy to guess.

If you made hard-to-remember passwords you probably did so because your business or a Web site forced you. In this case you are likely to have a list of the passwords next to your computer – even though you know this also compromises your safety. 

What makes a strong password

There are some very easy rules of thumb you can use to make sure your passwords aren’t weak.

Weak passwords:

• Password – The word “Password” is the most commonly used password and it is pathetically weak – as are ‘default’ and ‘blank’. These are simple words and easily guessed or broken with a dictionary assault on the password.

• Smith1968 - Though this uses 9 characters and includes letters and numbers, names that are associated with you or your family, or uses other identifying information such as birth year, are easily hacked.

• F1avoR – Though it mixes up capitols and numbers, it is too short and substituting the number 1 for the letter l is easy to guess.

Strong passwords. It’s easy and can actually be fun to create strong passwords - you just have to know how - and the payoff in increased safety is huge. There are 5 principles when protecting passwords:

1. Length – use at least 10 characters

2. Strength – mix it up with capitals, characters, and numbers

3. Obscure – use nothing that is associated with you, your family, your company, etc.

4. Protect – do not place paper reminders near your computer

5. Change – the more sensitive the information, the more frequently you should change your password

Look at these examples of password patterns that are safe but also easy to remember.

Beware of simple password hints

Often, you are given a choice of password ‘hints’ when setting up a membership or an account. Security questions that someone can easily discover the answer to expose you to theft on the site involved, and allow the criminal to collect additional information about you. When given a choice, never pick a hint whose answer is easily discoverable.

When all the choices – as in this example - are easily discoverable, feel free to ignore the question and use an answer that means something to you; for example, sunshine. The site isn’t actually validating this information for accuracy; they just want you to provide the same answer that you used to establish the account. Enter whatever you want, but make it memorable.