Selecting a secure password

You know you should be picking secure passwords to use for anything you do online, but picking one is so hard. You have to think of so many things and then remember them all. Well have no fear we can help, with the picking part at least. Follow our guidelines and you will be more than sure that your passwords will not only be secure but easy to remember as well.

Here are a few tips to help you select a secure password and keeping it secure.

• Use at minimum 8 characters
• Combine letters, numbers, and symbols. The greater variety of characters that you have in your password, the harder it is to guess.
  • Lowercase letters – a, b, c, …
  • Uppercase letters – A, B, C, …
  • Numerals – 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
  • Non-alphanumeric (symbols) – ( ) ` ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * – + = | { } [ ] : ; ” ‘ < > , . ? /
  • Do not use dictionary words

• Do not use your birth date, SSN, pets name, child’s name or other words that can be easily guessed.
• Do not keep you password written on a piece of paper under your keyboard, on your monitor or in your drawer. These tactics are well known and are the first places people look for passwords.
• Do not share your password with others.

Examples of Bad Passwords:

johnd, dnhoj, johndjohnd, JOHND, ABC123D, The Close, 0123456789, xxxxxx, mouse, truck, lorry, me, you

Examples of Good Passwords:

w@Ter55h00t, Si11yb0y

You can check your password here

Related articles

• Be Smart about Passwords (fiercespirits.wordpress.com)
• How to Keep Your Passwords Secure (callcoco.wordpress.com)
• Don’t blame users for dumb passwords (infoworld.com)