Do not use:
- the name of your spouse or other family members
- the name of your best friend or a celebrity
- combinations with the birthdays of those above
- anything you can find in a dictionary
- the obvious: abcd1234...
A Good Password
| One simple way to create a password is to use a ‘catchphrase’ like | Ike and Mike eat black olives at lunch |
| Now only use the first letters of this phrase and get |
I-ke a-nd M-ike e-at b-lack o-lives a-t l-unch IaMeboal |
| Now see the resemblance I→1 | and→& | e→3 | o→0 | at→@ |
1-ke & M-ike 3-at b-lack 0-lives @ l-unch 1&M3b0@l |
This is a fair password (or would be if it were not public knowledge now). You can remember it or at least reconstruct it. But unfortunately, there’s more to passwords yet.
Change Passwords On A Regular Basis
Do change your passwords regularly! Those passwords that grant access to important facilities like your bank or ebay etc. should be changed on a monthly basis at least.
Different Passwords
Do not use one password everywhere. There’s a strong temptation to use that good and secure password wherever you need one. But beware! Many websites send you an unencrypted confirmation email. With your password. Everybody can read that mail. Some websites have very low security policies. So they are easily attacked, the user data are collected and now the culprits go to more interesting sites – like your bank account – and simply try. They also know that many people just use one password. So use a different password for every site, forum, and account etc
.Change Default Passwords
Often enough you get a standard password when you install software or register with a site. Or passwords are sent in unencrypted emails. Be sure to change them immediately to new ones.
How To Remember All Those Passwords
Right. When you follow all these suggestions, you have either a grand memory or a problem to solve. Also you must be about the most creative person on Planet Earth to come up with all those new passwords! If on the other hand you doubt your abilities then please, do not make silly mistakes like putting them on a sticky note on your pc screen or under your desk. Never ever save them on your hard disk! That is where the rogues look for them, remember?
One To Rule Them All
So: where do we put all our passwords safely? Yes, in a password manager. This is basically a securely encrypted data base where you store all the passwords you need. And more. Such a program helps you to create secure passwords of any desired length, say between 14 and 30 characters strong.
Now you only need to create and remember one Master Password for your password manager, which you do with the hints above and store safely in your biological memory – your brain!