How-To Articles

How to Create a Secure Password

Passwords protect all sorts of highly sensitive information like personal emails, your social security number, bank account information, etc., yet too few people are willing to put the effort into developing strong passwords. Most people are guilty of it at one time or another. The excuses usually range from ?I'm too lazy to come up with something clever and difficult to figure out.? to ?I'm too afraid I'll forget it if it's too complex.?

Strong passwords don't have to be a hassle though, and if they are, well you'll just have to find a way to make it work because they're necessary to keeping you and your information safe.

So what constitutes a strong password, and what constitutes a weak password?

Strong Passwords?

• are at least eight characters long, and are only strengthened with each additional character. The strongest passwords are 14 characters or more.


• combine letters, numbers and symbols. It?s much more difficult to guess a password with a wide variety of characters in it, so span the keyboard and use symbols like ], ~, >, @ or +.


• use words or phrases that are strange to others but memorable to you. You don't want to have a jumbled up mess of characters that mean nothing to you, but you also don't want something easy to guess.

Weak Passwords?

• use sequences of numbers or letters. ?12345678? or ?a1b2c3d4? are both very weak passwords because of their sequencing. Also, ?asdfghjkl? is a weak password because it?s just adjacent letters across the keyboard.


• use parts of your name, birthday or social security number. ?John11208719? would be an unwise password if you name was John, your birthday is November 20 and the last four digits of your social security number are 8719. You also don't want to use any of that same information for family members or close friends in your passwords.

Additional Tips on Passwords:?

1. Change your passwords frequently.


2. Have multiple passwords.


3. Don?t reveal your password to others.


4. Never provide your password based on an email request.