Choosing a secure and rememberable password.
Today we’re going to talk about creating a secure password that is also rememberable. Passwords are your first line of defense against the bad guys.
Before we get started with creating a secure password let’s talk about some things you shouldn’t do when creating a secure password.
Do not use “password” or “123456”. Believe it or not these and variations of them (pass1234, password1, etc…) are still some of the most popular passwords around. They are also some of the most insecure passwords in use. Why? Because the bad guys know they are so popular.
Do not use “god”, Jesus”, “LetMeIn” or cuss words. See number 1.
Do not use words found in the dictionary. All password cracking programs have words from the dictionary in them, including slang and cuss words.
Avoid using keyboard patterns like qwerty. If your not familiar with qwerty it’s the first six letters from the left on the top row of the keyboard. Password crackers have become wise to this tactic.
Unless you have the memory of an elephant or a good password manager (See number 4 below.) you should probably avoid randomly generated passwords. While they are very secure, most people cannot remember them and will end up writing them down or putting them in a text document which is very insecure.
Do not use the same password everywhere. (Help with this is coming. See number 4 below.)
Now for something more helpful.
Replace letters with numbers or symbols or even other letters. Pat could become P@+ or dogs could become d0gz.
Always use numbers and/or symbols as well as letters in your password.
String multiple words or number sets together to create stronger passphrases. They should not be related but should be remember-able. For example, if your favorite sport is baseball and you love pizza. And for some reason 315 always sticks in your head. Try P1sz@B@$e8all315.
Use a password manager. You just have to remember one password to get into the program. All of your other passwords are safely encrypted inside a database. There are some very good ones available for free. KeePass is my favorite. It runs in Windows and Linux, plus it runs on most smartphones. So you have access to your passwords anywhere.