Create Strong Passwords
Since passwords protect your valuable personal information, it’s always a best practice to use strong passwords when creating a password. Characteristics of a strong password might include a combination of the following:
- A group of random characters that don’t include words found in the dictionary of any language
- At least 8 characters long (the longer the password, the harder it is for a hacker to guess)
- A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols (e.g., ! @ # $ % ^ & *) and numerals, including a least 1 letter and 1 number (passwords made up of a greater variety of characters are harder for hackers to guess)
- Based on words or phrases that are easy for you to remember, but difficult for a hacker to guess
The following suggests one way to create a strong password that could be easy for you to remember, but hard for a hacker to guess:
- Think of a phrase that is easy to remember, such as:
- A line from a favorite song or poem, or the title of a book
- A phrase about your home, family or hobby
- A humorous, nonsensical phrase that’s easy to remember
- Take the first letter of each word in your phrase to create the string of characters that will become your password, such as:
- Changing the passage from Romeo and Juliet “O swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon” to “Osnbtmtim”
- Add numbers and upper- and lowercase letters to add complexity, such as:
- Substituting a zero for the initial letter “O,” making the two m’s for “moon” uppercase and substituting the numeral 1 for the letter “i” so it becomes “0snbtMt1M”
The new password is still easy to remember, but it is now much harder for a hacker to break.
Password practices to avoid
When creating a password, avoid the following:
- Dictionary words in any language
- Words spelled backward, common misspellings and abbreviations
- Sequences or repeated characters (e.g., 1234567, abc123, qwerty)
- Personal information such as your name, a loved one’s name, a birthday or similar information
Additional support
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