Making your passwords unique

Passwords are crucial to accessing your personal accounts and information. The problem is: We all have so many accounts that we worry more about remembering our passwords than we do about making sure they actually protect our data from hackers. So we end up using passwords like our mother's maiden name or child's first name. But even if you add a few numbers to the end, those types of passwords are easy to break. And that means your data isn't safe.

The tips below can help you avoid the most common password pitfalls and even implement a few new ideas that will make your passwords easy to remember...and hard to break!

Strength Training

A well-protected password is not only unique, but also hard to guess. How do you do that? It's pretty simple really. Just follow this advice:

• Use a random string of characters. That means no sequential letters or numbers. None.
   
• Make it looooong. The longer the better--even up to as many as 10 to 14 characters.
   
• Switch things up. Use a combination of upper and lower case letters, along with a few numbers mixed in the middle or end.
   
• Don't use substitutes. Using "@" for "a" or "1" for "I" may look good to you, but most hackers are smart enough to break those substitutes rather quickly.
   
• Avoid easy targets like words straight out of the dictionary or things like family names and birthdays.

Multiplication Facts

Most of us cheat when it comes to passwords. We have trouble remembering our passwords, so we come up with two or three that we can remember and use them everywhere. But you should avoid the temptation. The fact is, once a password is compromised, all of your accounts are vulnerable. There's no way around it, you need to a way to create and remember multiple passwords--a different one for each account!

Sure-Fire Technique for Memorable, Unique Passwords

For all the advice above, good passwords come down to two things: they're easy for you to remember, and they're hard to break. Implementing the tips above can make your passwords hard to break, but what about remembering them--especially if you have a unique password for every account? Here's a sure-fire tip to help!

1. Think up a phrase. Instead of a common word or family member name, think up a unique phrase that only you know. For example, you may think up something off the wall such as "I Like Short Hair Too."

2. Make it an acronym. In our example, "I Like Short Hair Too" would become ILSHT.

3. Add Complexity. Remember those substitutes you're not supposed to use with dictionary words? Well, you CAN use them with your acronym. For example, "I Like Short Hair Too" can become "1 Like $hort Hair 2" which makes: 1L$H2. You can also use upper and lower letters to make it 1L$h2. The point is to be creative, but in a way that you can easily remember it.

4. Make it unique. A password is only really unique if you use it for one account and one account only. So you can't just use 1L$h2 for every account. And, in reality it's still too short. Here's the key to the whole process: Mix in additional letters and numbers that are unique to each account. For example, if you're logging into a "gmail account" you can use the "gm" and "@cct" (for acct) to make: 1L$h2gM@cct. Then, for a Netflix account, you may use: 1L$h2Nf@cct.

Of course, these are just examples. You'll want to be creative and think up your own acronym and ways to add unique characters for each account. And then keep that little secret to yourself so no one will be able to guess your account passwords.

Follow these simple steps and you'll have passwords that are tough to break, unique to every account, and easy to remember!

12:37 PM - Aug. 12, 2008 - comments {0} - post comment

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