Passwords are like precious keys to a man’s safe. There are a lot of information that can be saved in the internet these days including: personal information, important documents, and the hacker favorite bank account information. For these things to be safe, you need to lock it up with a fool proof password. A password complicated enough for hackers to figure out but too memorable for you to forget.
Some people might have difficulty in remembering their password so they opt to make less complicated ones not knowing the dangers of a hacked password. Others just don’t put much importance on passwords that they just make short versions of it. When making a password especially in the internet, people should be extra careful. Once a person’s password is compromised in the internet, it is a chain reaction of unfortunate events for the owner.
Here are some steps to make an internet-safe password :
1. The longer the better
Internet passwords require at least six characters; make it more than the required characters. The longer your password, the harder for others to figure out.
2. Use a base-word
Base-words are a series of random words that are really memorable to you. Try connecting names of your favorite cars, flowers, your children’s name etc., and make mnemonics out of it. Example: PontiacFordDodge will become “ponfordo”.
3. Put numerical values on the mnemonics
Put the numbers on your mnemonics to make it secure. To make it more memorable to you, use something that is connected to the base-word you have chosen. For cars for example, you can use their respective year models; for flowers, the month they bloom; and your children’s ages. Example: “ponfordo” plus year models “697274” will become “ponfordo697274”.
4. Include punctuation and symbols
To add more complication on your password, add punctuations. This will give more strength to your password. Example: “ponfordo_69*72*74”.
5. Take advantage of high and low caps
Use a combination of small and big letters in your password. Example: “PonForDo_69*72*74”.
6. Put a personal clue for your password
Using another base-word, make clue for yourself that refers to your password. For this instance, you are using your favorite American muscle cars so: Example: “MyAmMusclePonForDo_69*72*74”.
Using these basic steps in creating a strong password will definitely ensure that you are safe when you are transacting on the internet. However, there are still other instances that passwords can be compromised without you even knowing it if you are not very careful.
[Read also: Online Security Tips You Can’t Afford to Ignore]
The Big NO with Passwords
- Do NOT tell your password to anybody; and that means ANYBODY at all.
- Do not make your password your trademark; writing and leaving them behind on tables, chairs, etc.
- Be careful about the things you are signing yourself up on the internet that requires passwords; they might be hacking instruments administered by hackers who wants your password.
Do It
The steps in making a secure password are already given above. It is up to you to follow these steps to make an internet-safe, fool proof password for your accounts. Try also to follow the tips provided on the things you need not do with your “safe” password to avoid compromise.
[Read more: How to Stay Safe Online]
Making a good password is not a very hard process, the real problem is how to remember it. I can’t remember most of the password I created while registering on websites. Fortunately my cookies saved those. If I lose my laptop one day, its like I lost every thing on web. 🙂
Letting your web browser’s cookies to remember your passwords for you might not be a very good idea. Try get some ideas in this article, Sajith. Here’s the link : http://www.computerhowtoguide.com/2012/07/too-many-passwords-how-to-remember-them-all.html
Hey Curry, nice post. It is really important and sometimes a little tricky to make a strong password but I will keep in mind your methods.
And Peter, how about a post on how to manage passwords for different sites. I am sure many of us have different passwords for all those forums, social networking sites and blogs we are registered to. Note this one for your future posts. And if you have already written on this topic and I have missed the article, the please let me know the URL of the post 🙂
Yea we do have an article on how to manage multiple passwords. Check it out if it’s what you have been looking for. Here’s the URL : http://www.computerhowtoguide.com/2012/07/too-many-passwords-how-to-remember-them-all.html
Yes this is the one I was looking for 🙂 Nice post and thanks.
I always use more than ten characters with both numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters. Roboform got a very nice tool which is a password generator that can provide instant passwords that are very strong. I must save my passwords becasue it doesn’t matter if I have a base word, I never remeber them anyway. But if you have a better memory than me, than these steps are worth testing.
You absolutely need long complex passwords these days. They say to avoid dictionary words, use non-standard characters, and change them often. The drawbacks are it makes it difficult for you to actually remember too, but worth it in the long run. I knew a few people that used some very simple passwords to guess. A friend of mine once told me that they used password as their password. Can you believe that. Of course that was years ago, and hopefully they aren’t still using anything like that.
Hi Peter,
I always try to make my passwords unique along with uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols. I also try to do it write it using the things I like as a base-word. I do this mostly for all important things that need to be secure. However, for subscription websites I usually use generic passwords only.
The realities of creating a password? The Special Characters/Upper & Lower Case/Number is only for humans. In reality if a cracker is attempting to get to your password? The longer the better. Every character you add – makes it that much longer for the hacker to attempt to get your password.
The problem is with keyloggers etc. that actually see what you type. If they get that your still hosed. So keep your computer protected with a good anti virus and keep your computer updated. And if you use your phone or a public Wi-Fi? Don’t check any accounts that require your password from being used!
The best way today is with two-part authentication like when you access your bank account. You have your initial login/password then the Security question to let you into your account.
The best thing for that two part authentication? Don’t use a real answer when you set it up. i.e. What is the name of your first dog? Instead of putting your actual dogs name “Spot” use something different like “blue” or some other random word.
In today’s internet it is getting harder and harder to keep your online accounts secure – this was a great write up on how to setup your passwords!
great post
It is really important and sometimes a little tricky to make a strong password but I will keep in mind your methods.
I did not bother to have a strong password before my account get hacked. Then i realize that it is essential to have a strong password.
It’s very important to use a strong password online, also you will probably understand that it’s very sensible to use different passwords for each and every online service that you are using.