Halt...Who goes there?
How to Create Strong & Secure Passwords
Part 3 - Five Practices for a Strong Password
Copyright © 2004-2007 By Chancer Reese
Fact: no password is unbreakable. In theory, any password can be cracked given the right software; enough computing time and the money to pay for them. If someone REALLY wants to break into your accounts, they can.
But most of the bad guys you will encounter (hackers, nosy employees, distrustful business partners and curious kids) are not that hard to keep out.
1. Mix'em Up! When creating a password use mixture of characters like upper-case, lower-case letters(A-Z or a-z), numbers and special symbols such as: !,@,#,$,%,^,&,*,= , etc.
2. Psst…can you keep it a secret? Your passwords must be kept a secret. So MEMORIZE them! Don't write them down on the back of your bank card, credit card or on a note stuck on your computer monitor. Tips for properly storing your passwords are covered more thoroughly later on in this article.
3. The more the merrier. Use multiple passwords. You should have one for each individual account. Yes, I know it's a drag but you use the same over and over, you run the risk of a bad guy (a hacker or a jealous former lover) discovering it and running amok through all your accounts. Also take special care to use your strongest passwords on your more critical or valuable applications and accounts.
4. Size does matter... Bigger is better, for passwords anyway. For minimum security, the experts recommend a password be at least six characters long. For business use or financial accounts I would go up to seven or eight for more bangs for the buck. One or two extra keystrokes add a few million more combinations a cracking program has to work through.
5. Do it frequently. Change your passwords often. You should alter all critical passwords every six months or once a year at a minimum or non critical things. More every 90 days if it is critical.
So what is critical? Your money market accounts should be more critical to you then your membership to Critters Online! Some systems prompt you when change; others you have to remember and manually change it. Either way, do it frequently.
Next...
Additional Strong Password TipsTo read the first parts of this series, click below:
Intro - Halt Who Goes There?Part 2 - The Password System