5 Tips to Make Your Passwords More Secure

This graphic is provided by xato.net and shows a tag cloud of the top 500 most used passwords. Of course these passwords should not be used.

This graphic is provided by xato.net and shows a tag cloud of the top 500 most used passwords. Of course these passwords should not be used.

Here is a great tool that can tell you how secure your password is, try it out and then come back to finish reading:

HowSecureIsMyPassword.net

I am guessing you didn’t get a very good score. Well your in luck, I have written 5 tips to help you out.

1. Use different passwords for different account types.

You have different account types with different security requirements. You have banking accounts, email accounts, social accounts, some throw away accounts, etc.

If you are using the same password for all these different types of accounts you are setting yourself up for disaster.

It’s recommended that you have a password for your bank accounts that’s different from your email accounts that’s different from your social accounts. Keeping your passwords diverse reduces the risk and the damage from password hijackers.

2. Create passwords that include lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers and symbols.

The hardest part of this step is coming up with a password that is both strong and memorable. Usually you choose a simple password so that you can remember it, leaving yourself vulnerable. Or your password becomes so strong that you can’t remember it and then no one including yourself can access your account.

A good way to create strong passwords is to create a string of characters that holds meaning to you but no one else. Similar to how LOL means laughing out loud to internet users, but in this case you want to create a string of characters that only holds meaning for you.

Here are a few examples:

l2E2b@Fbbq = Love to eat two burgers at Frank’s BBQ

I>u@pbTstats = I am greater than you at pickle ball tournament statistics

m1/2Birth1230 = My half birthday is December 30th

Think of your own phrases and you can easily have a password that is both memorable and secure.

3. Make sure your passwords are at least 12 characters long.

Not much to explain about this one except the longer the better. The longer your password the longer it will take a random generator script, or anything/anyone else, to guess your password. A 12 character or more password is the length it takes to keep your password safe from random generators for a long time.

4. Add a few characters specific to the site or account you are using.

This one is probably the most foreign. If you add a few characters to your password that are specific to the site that the account is for, it makes your password unique for all your accounts.

For example, lets say your base password is I>u@pbTstats and you are registering for a Google account, your modified/unique password could be I>u@bpTstats-goo. Along the same lines your Umbrella Graphics account password could be I>u@bpTstats-ug. This technique provides you with a way to have a unique memorable password for every account, making password hijacking even less likely.

5. For good measure, a few things you shouldn’t do.

Believe it or not password is still the most common password in existence followed by 123456. If you are using these or anything similar that is quick and easy to type on your keyboard, don’t.

Here are a few common practices that many people use to create passwords that should be avoided.

  • Don’t use easy to type strings like 123456, qwerty or similar.
  • Don’t use a form of password like password, pass, testpass or similar.
  • Don’t use your own name, birthday, anniversary or similar that is common knowledge or that you would willingly give out.
  • Don’t use a loved one’s name, birthday, anniversary or similar that is common knowledge or that you would willingly give out.
  • Don’t use a phrase that represents an item or idea you really love.
  • Don’t use a phrase that represents a dream that you want to accomplish
  • Don’t use a phrase that represents an item you want to own.
  • Don’t use a single word. A random generation script can run through all the words in a dictionary on a current high speed computer in a few seconds.
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