Remember the days before Internet passwords, when the only confidential thing you had to remember was your locker combination? Yes, those were the days of "Leave it to Beaver," when you didn't even have to lock your front door. Fast-forward 50 years. Now we live with a fear of identity theft. We deal with that fear by needing difficult-to-hack passwords that are difficult to manage.
Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where we could easily create and remember complicated passwords?
Creating passwords that are difficult to hack is easy. Remembering them is not, mostly because there are so many to remember. Managing passwords is a big frustration for most people, and one of the most common issues computer consultants encounter. Here are recommendations on how to make your passwords longer, more complex, and easier to remember, and some tips on managing passwords to keep them safe from intruders.
The best passwords are a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols. The longer the better. In fact, most companies force us to create passwords based on these requirements. On one hand, it's a good idea. But, in order to remember the plethora of passwords, most people write them down, which is a bad idea.
Tip 1: Increase password length.
There are 95 characters on a keyboard. With an eight-character password, there are 958 (over 6.6 quadrillion) combinations that a hacker would have to go through to guess a password. Just adding a few more characters increases that by billions. Mark Burnett, a security consultant and author of the book "Perfect Password," recommends password length be at least 15 characters.
Tip 2: Make passwords more complex.
Passwords that use common names or words in the dictionary can be hacked in minutes. Adding numbers and symbols makes it significantly more difficult.
Tip 3: Make passwords memorable.
An easy way to make your passwords longer, more complex and memorable is to use a sentence or phrase. For example: "Go Bruins! 1982" is 15 characters, includes at least 1 character from each set, and is easy to remember. Or, "My monkey ate 22 bananas" Or, "My '64 Chevy cost $800." If spaces are allowed, use them. If not, then remove them.
Tip 4: Make passwords unique.
Come up with your own method, but one idea is to start the password with the first 4 letters of the account name. For example, for a Facebook account, you might use "Face Go Bruins! 1982." For a USBank account use "Usba Go Bruins! 1982." Since companies have different policies, invariably you won't be able to follow your plan in every case. Some companies don't allow symbols, while others limit the number of characters.
Tip 5: Keep your passwords safe.
Some people write down their passwords on paper and keep it handy. If this is you, consider writing your passwords in code. For example, "bruins" could be code for "Go Bruins! 1982." Don't keep a file of your passwords on your computer. If you do, consider password-protecting that file and naming it something other than "passwords." Then you only need to remember that password.
Also, there are plenty of apps made specifically for storing passwords.
So, to reduce your frustration, and mine, follow these simple ideas to make your passwords longer, more complex, memorable and safe.
Dalton can be reached at [email protected]
Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world where we could easily create and remember complicated passwords?
Creating passwords that are difficult to hack is easy. Remembering them is not, mostly because there are so many to remember. Managing passwords is a big frustration for most people, and one of the most common issues computer consultants encounter. Here are recommendations on how to make your passwords longer, more complex, and easier to remember, and some tips on managing passwords to keep them safe from intruders.
The best passwords are a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols. The longer the better. In fact, most companies force us to create passwords based on these requirements. On one hand, it's a good idea. But, in order to remember the plethora of passwords, most people write them down, which is a bad idea.
Tip 1: Increase password length.
There are 95 characters on a keyboard. With an eight-character password, there are 958 (over 6.6 quadrillion) combinations that a hacker would have to go through to guess a password. Just adding a few more characters increases that by billions. Mark Burnett, a security consultant and author of the book "Perfect Password," recommends password length be at least 15 characters.
Tip 2: Make passwords more complex.
Passwords that use common names or words in the dictionary can be hacked in minutes. Adding numbers and symbols makes it significantly more difficult.
Tip 3: Make passwords memorable.
An easy way to make your passwords longer, more complex and memorable is to use a sentence or phrase. For example: "Go Bruins! 1982" is 15 characters, includes at least 1 character from each set, and is easy to remember. Or, "My monkey ate 22 bananas" Or, "My '64 Chevy cost $800." If spaces are allowed, use them. If not, then remove them.
Tip 4: Make passwords unique.
Come up with your own method, but one idea is to start the password with the first 4 letters of the account name. For example, for a Facebook account, you might use "Face Go Bruins! 1982." For a USBank account use "Usba Go Bruins! 1982." Since companies have different policies, invariably you won't be able to follow your plan in every case. Some companies don't allow symbols, while others limit the number of characters.
Tip 5: Keep your passwords safe.
Some people write down their passwords on paper and keep it handy. If this is you, consider writing your passwords in code. For example, "bruins" could be code for "Go Bruins! 1982." Don't keep a file of your passwords on your computer. If you do, consider password-protecting that file and naming it something other than "passwords." Then you only need to remember that password.
Also, there are plenty of apps made specifically for storing passwords.
So, to reduce your frustration, and mine, follow these simple ideas to make your passwords longer, more complex, memorable and safe.
Dalton can be reached at [email protected]