How do I chose a safe password?

In the modern day, passwords are essential to keeping your online accounts safe. Unfortunately, passwords have become more complicated as threats have become more sophisticated. However, there are still simple ways to make your passwords more secure.

1. Avoid Simple Word-Lists

  • Avoid Simple Word-Lists
  • Don’t Use Your Name, Spouse’s Name or Child’s Name
  • Don’t Use The Same Password For Multiple Accounts

2. Make Sure Your Password Isn’t in the Dictionary or Common Password List

  • Don’t use a password that’s in the dictionary.
  • Don’t use a word that has been used as a password before.
  • Don’t use a word from any common list of passwords, such as “123456”, “qwerty”, or “asdfgh.”

3. Use Mixed Case and Numbers, Too

You should also use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. For example, “Passw0rd!” is a bad password because it’s easy to guess (it even has the word ‘password’ in it).

  • Avoid using passwords that are easy to guess. For example: your name, birth date or pet’s name; any common word in the dictionary; or any other word you can find in a dictionary or on Wikipedia.
  • Use different passwords for each website/service you use — this is called having multiple factors of authentication on each account which increases security dramatically!

4. Don’t Use Personal Information or Things You’ve Spoken To People About

  • Avoid using personal information or things you’ve spoken to people about
  • Don’t use your name, address, birthdate, or other personal information in your password. If someone knows this information about you and sees it in the clear text of a file or database, they can easily guess the rest of your passwords.
  • Avoid using information that is easy to guess
  • Don’t use common words from the dictionary as part of your password (for example: “monkey”, “cat” or “blue”). These are considered weak passwords because they are so easy for computers to guess and crack through brute force attacks (repeated attempts).
  • Be careful not to make up combinations based on common sequences that humans tend to use when typing (such as 1qaz2wsx3edc4rfv5t6y7u8i9o0p) as these may also be vulnerable if an attacker knows how frequently they occur on keyboards across different languages/locations

5. Also, don’t use any information that is generally available on you (birthday, address)

  • Don’t use your birthdate, address or mother’s maiden name as a password.
  • Don’t use your pet’s name or favorite food.
  • Don’t use the name of your first school or college, childhood street address or town/city where you grew up as a password.
  • Also avoid using any other information that is generally available on you (e.g., phone number, email address).

6. Be Smart About Keyboard Patterns

Using keyboard patterns to create your password is a bad idea. It’s easy for hackers to guess what your password might be based on common keyboard patterns, such as “qwerty” or “1234567890.” Instead of using a pattern that can easily be guessed, try mixing up upper and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters in your passwords.

Another option is using a password generator tool like LastPass or Dashlane–they’ll create secure passwords for you automatically so all you have to do is remember one master password!

A strong password can make all the difference in keeping your online accounts secure

When you’re choosing a password, here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Passwords should be long and complex. The longer your password is, the more difficult it is for hackers to guess. A good rule of thumb is that if your password can be guessed in less than five seconds by looking at its length and complexity, then it’s not strong enough.
  • Passwords should be unique for every site you use online (or at least similar). If a cybercriminal gets access to one account through malware or phishing attacks on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter, they could use that information as leverage to try logging into other accounts where you used the same username/email combination as before and these might include important financial accounts! So while using the same passwords everywhere may seem convenient now (especially since most people don’t want anything standing between them and getting work done), don’t do it! Instead create different ones just like how we would do offline with physical keys; this way we don’t run into any problems later down the road when trying accessing our valuables safely again after losing track due bad luck happening unexpectedly.

Conclusion

There are many different ways to choose a strong password, but the most important thing is that you make sure it’s something that only you would know. The more difficult it is for someone else (or even yourself!) to guess your password, the better off your accounts will be. So don’t forget those tips above next time you log in!

Author: Jeffrey Miles