How To Pick A Good Password and Keep It Safe

Your username and password keeps your information and identity your own and keeps everybody else away from it. There are many tips to creating a good password and I will share some of them with you today.
• Never choose a word that is in the dictionary or someone’s name. (English or otherwise)

• Use at least 8 characters. It is actually recommended by some that you use at least 14 characters (A short complex password is easier for hackers to get than even a simple long one)

• Avoid obvious passwords such as 12345, qwerty, password, or letmein. Hackers have lists of the most common ones like this and can break your account within seconds if you use these.

• The best passwords are a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. (such as !@#$, etc) For instance the week password of “letmein” can be turned into a strong password by changing it to something like “4u2let_me_in!” (without the quotes)

• Use a different password for everything. If you use the same username and password everywhere, if a hacker gets a hold of it you are literally giving them a master key to your information.

• Putting a twist to into words by swapping letters for numbers and symbols is a safe bet. Such as instead of having a password like “slowpctips” you could change it to “sl0wpctip$!”.

• Keep your passwords to yourself (even from friends and family). Even though you may know not to give out your password, others that you have entrusted with it (especially younger children) may not know when they are being tricked into giving it out. About the only exception to this would be giving the username and password of online banking to a spouse, but make sure to warn them of the dangers.

• Never respond to an email that requests that you send your password or click a link in the email to update your password. These are most certainly fraudulent (Especially if they state that it is urgent or your account will be deleted with x amount of hours if you do not comply). If you must change your password go to the main site by typing the link into your web browser (copy and pasting the link in the email is not a safe alternative). Although email may look like it is from a reputable source, it can easily be faked by a hacker.

• Change your password often.

• Avoid using public Wi-Fi connections, Internet Cafes, etc. for anything more than common anonymous browsing (Basically anything that doesn’t a password to access). Hackers monitor these hotspots and can intercept your password over an insecure connection.
Although this may seem like a lot at first, there are ways to make it easier (See the upcoming article about KeePass, which can create strong passwords and even store and manage them encrypted on your PC). Common sense is the key to keeping your data safe, and a good way to think is anytime anyone asks you for your password or you receive an email asking you to update it, assume they are out to get you.