On-Site Tip of the Month

Creating Secure Passwords

Whether in the office, at home, or browsing the Internet, passwords are important. A "poor" password has been defined as:

Easy to guess — including your name, your login name, your company's name, dates that are special to you, and words found in the dictionary.
Consists of repeating or sequential characters — e.g. 123456, or aaabbb.
Does not contain a mixture of character types — letters, numbers, and special characters.

So what is a "good" password? One that is hard to guess... and easy to remember! When you can easily remember a password, you wont need to write it down. (Note: If you don't think you can make a password that is easy to remember and hard to guess, keep reading!)

Password Complexity

The more complex a password, the more secure it is. Complexity comes from the length of the word, and how difficult it is to guess. Most experts recommend at least six characters for a secure password; many recommend eight.

Using a mixture of character types greatly increases a password's complexity. Character types include:

Lower case letters: a, b, c, d...z
Upper case letters: A, B, C, D...Z
Numerals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0
Special characters: !@#$%^&*()-_=+? etc.

Note: Some web sites and applications do not allow "special characters" in the password field. But do use special characters when you can!

A Simple Password Creation Method

Here is one method for creating a unique, easy-to-remember, yet hard-to-guess password.

Start with a phrase of your own making, using at least eight words, which you can easily remember. Use the first letter of each word to compose the password. Use special characters and numerals to replace certain letters (e.g., "2" for "two", or "&" for "and"). Be sure to include some capitalized letters.

First Example phrase:
I'm going to Disneyland on my birthday!

First Example password:
ig2DLomb!

Second Example phrase:
Elizabeth is my number 1 cutie pie

Second Example password:
E=mn1qtp
(Note that "cutie" was transposed to "qt".)

Third Example phrase:
Huntington Beach is the one true Surf City

Third Example password:
HB=t1tsc

Test the strength of your password using the "Password Strength Meter" at this web site: http://www.securitystats.com/tools/password.php

Password Creation Guidelines

Use at least six characters — for extra security, at least eight
Use several character types in your password: upper and lower case letters, numerals, and special characters
Make your password easy to remember; don't write it down!
Do not use your login ID, proper names, or any word found in a dictionary — either spelled forward or backward
Don't use repeating or sequential numbers or letters
Don't use any information that can be easily obtained; such as your phone number, pet's name, address, birth date, etc.
Do not use keyboard sequences, e.g. qwerty or uiop
NEVER reveal your password to anyone — in conversation, e-mail, or any other method!

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