We need passwords for everything important—from financial accounts to work and private email. If a crook gets hold of your password, he can get access to your entire life. There are criminals out there who look for ways to break passwords to access people’s personal information and funds—but you don’t have to make yourself vulnerable. Here are a few steps to take if you want to create a safer, more secure password.
Don’t use discrete words. Crooks who try to break passwords will sometimes use programs that cycle through every word in the English language. Avoid using words that appear in the dictionary; these are generally the weakest passwords and the easiest to break. Even words that don’t appear in the dictionary but are close, such as slightly misspelled words and words with a few numbers after them, are not as safe as randomly chosen combinations of letters and numbers.
Don’t use personal information. Avoid using anything personal about you that others would know in your password. This includes your name; names of family members, friends or pets; dates of birth, anniversaries, weddings or graduations; and numbers related to your phone number or address. Identity thieves have been caught going through people’s trash to find number combinations that could comprise a password, and there’s always the chance that the thief could be someone you know—and who knows the names of your loved ones and your date of birth.
Do use both upper and lower case letters. Some password applications are case sensitive, so it’s helpful to have a password that incorporates upper and lower case letters. This will give the thieves one more thing they’ll have to guess right before cracking your password.
Don’t use identifiable combinations. Some people use strings of the same letter or number, or they choose a recognizable series of letters that doesn’t’ appear in a dictionary: something like “QWERTY” for the upper left keys on the keyboard. If you choose a password that can be guessed easily, you’re asking for trouble—so avoid these easily recognizable phrasings.
Do use something you (and only you) will remember. When creating a password, it’s best to choose a combination of letters that stands for a phrase you will remember, such as “MPCIP” for “My Favorite Color Is Purple.” Choose a phrase that’s very idiosyncratic to you and that nobody else would guess, just in case someone who knows you is trying to gain access to your information.
Don’t write your passwords down. You never know who will see the list of passwords you keep in your desk. Your coworkers could easily find it if you’re keeping it at work—and if you keep it at home, it might not be safe from a break-in. Protect yourself by avoiding written records of your passwords. Choose a phrase and number combination you’ll remember but no one else will know, and avoid writing your passwords down in a notebook or anywhere else they could be seen.
Do change your passwords regularly. Once you have the perfect password, you’ll have to change it. It’s smart to change your password every six months. In addition, if you’ve had to give your password to anyone else recently or if you’ve logged on to your account online using a computer other than your own, you should change your password. Some websites will tell you if your password is not secure, and if yours gives you such a notice you should change your password right away.
Don’t use the same password for everything. It can be difficult to think up dozens of secure, safe passwords—and tempting to use the same one for all your access-restricted accounts, from your online bank account to your MySpace page. Don’t do it. It’s crucial to make sure you have as many passwords as you have sites that ask you to sign in. If security is breached on one site, the thief who stole the passwords now has the information he needs to access any of your other secure websites. You can limit the damage caused by such occurrences by giving your accounts a wide range of passwords, ensuring thieves who manage to steal one won’t be able to get into the rest of your accounts.
A secure password consists of seven or more letters and symbols, at least one numeral, and include both upper and lowercase letters. Avoid obvious words and number combinations, and keep your password secret and out of sight—and your password will be better able to protect your information.
Six Steps to Creating a Secure Password