TIPS ON HOW TO CREATE A STRONG PASSWORD

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Most people have
multiple passwords
for e-mail accounts, online banking, discussion forums, site memberships, ebay,
PayPal and so on. With so many passwords to remember, it can be difficult
to remember them, and people may think it is easier to simply use the same
password on different sites, or to use passwords that are easy to remember, such as
their date-of-birth or a child's name.  Unfortunately, these types of
passwords can easily be hacked.



The problem is that while you might be able to remember these passwords, which
is why so many people use basic passwords and phrases, they are not at all
secure and hackers will be able to easily crack them to obtain your account
information.



The following tips will help you create a secure password that are difficult
to hack.

1.      Use a strong password. A strong password contains
a combination of six or more uppercase and lowercase letters, plus punctuation
and numbers.  Using all four types of characters
works the best. For example instead of using welcome use W3Lc0mE^9.

2.      Passwords
should be eight or more characters in length. The longer the password, the
harder it is to crack.

3.        Never use
the same password twice. If, for example, your eBay account were hacked and
your password obtained, the hacker would have instant access to your PayPal
account if you use the same password.

4.       Do not use
common information in your password, such as birthdates, your phone number, or
other information directly related to you.

5.        Passwords comprised of characters rather
than proper words are more secure.

 

6       Refrain from
writing passwords down and do not login to accounts via a public computer
(e.g., at the library or Internet cafe) and save the password details in the
browser.

7.       Never click
an e-mail link and log into a secure site from an e-mail. Even if the e-mail
looks legitimate, always type the URL into a browser yourself, then log in to
your account. This will help you avoid phishing
attacks.

8.         Do not allow
applications to store your passwords online, and remember to clear your browser
cache, history and clear passwords frequently.

9.      Remember to
change your passwords frequently. The more important the account, the more
frequently the password should be changed.

10.    Never
communicate a password to anyone, especially via e-mail or instant messenger.
Passwords should always be kept private.

Create a Strong Password from a Pass Phrase

Some
systems will allow you to use a pass phrase, that is a phrase with spaces. These
are the most secure types of log-ins. If the system does not support phrases,
then you can create a secure password from a phrase.

For
example "My son Ryan is 12 years old" as a password could be
msRi12yo. You can make this more secure by replacing some characters with
uppercase letters and adding numbers and punctuation, like this: msRi12Y0!.
These types of passwords are often easier to remember.

 Check Your Password Strength

There
are many online services that can help you determine how secure your password
really is. Microsoft's Password Checker lets you enter
in a password and the service will help you to gauge the strength of your
password. Microsoft also recommends that a strong password should be 14
characters or longer, (eight characters or longer at a minimum), and it should
include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.