Find out how easy or difficult it can be for someone to steal your secret key.
It’s all about privacy: it doesn’t matter if it’s your e-mail account, your files or your credit card. Anytime you have to decide a new password you wonder which one will be the best to protect your stuff. You wish you could find out a combination of letters and numbers that no expert hacker could find out.
The bad news is that there’s no perfect formula to avoid an eventual violation, the good news is that there are some safety tips you can take note to prevent it.
Don’t choose any on this list
In 2007, PC Magazine compiled a list of the “10 worst passwords”. Although this research is not very recent, it is worth to make sure ours is not in the list:
password
123456
qwerty
abc123
letmein
monkey
myspace1
password1
blink182
(your first name)
If you want more, you can check the top 500 worst passwords compiled by Mark Burnett’s in his book Perfect Passwords: Selection, Protection, Authentication.
Avoid personal details
You’ve probably heard about this one, but there are still a lot of people who pick their birthday, children’s names, home address or favorite team. They are certainly easy to guess, so use your imagination and think a little bit more.
Don’t use words you can find in the dictionary
Some hackers use automated programs that try all the words from a dictionary. If your password doesn’t have a meaning will be less vulnerable.
If possible, use symbols and capital letters
Sometimes you can only choose between words and numbers, but if you have the chance to pick also symbols, they can be a good option. Use them in addition to letters and numbers as well as the shift key for capital letters or the space bar, if available.
The longer, the better
It’s a simple rule: finding out ten digits should be more difficult to find out five digits. Of course there could be exceptions for this rule, but generally each digit you add increases the level of security.
Take advantage of Password Checkers
There are several sites and types of software to enter your secret code and see how secure is. One of the most reliable is the one offered by Microsoft, where you have to fill a simple form to rate the strength.
January 24th, 2009 at 8:47 am
It`s very difficult to protect yout password!
My sugest is: don´t use the same password in different services.
Because if someone knows your mail password,knows all your passwords.
—-
Espero que no aya errores graves en mi inglés,y que por lo menos me entiendan.
Great article
January 24th, 2009 at 9:32 am
Good advice, very well written. More and more we’ll be seeing other authentication devices as well (smart cards and various kinds of scanners) that will help.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Graet article … one more that should never be used is a1b2c3.
Bye
January 24th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Great tips. Apparently, in addition to being the worst possible password, ‘password’ is also one of the most commonly used password.
January 24th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Thanks for sharing these helpful tips!
January 24th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Very useful advise!
January 24th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Tusaani the password ‘password’ has been included. My suggestion is a great one… Use words from foreign country that does not use English…
January 24th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Good points!
I use a combination of miscellaneous letters and numbers, which I periodically change. I’ve been a victim of identity theft, so take this seriously. If you need to, keep a list,in code (switch first and last digit…) at home in a secure location. Or keep it in a word document as a poem. Whatever works, develop a system.
I just bought a book from Amazom.com about query letters, and inside was an old pay stub complete with address and social security number! The book must have worked, as the owner of the pay stub is now a popular, well published author.
Thanks,
Clay
January 24th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Wylrhyss, foreign words are not really safe, if you consider the point when I mentioned that hackers can use automated programs that try every word of any dictionary.
Clay: What’s the book title? Sharing it could be useful.
Thanks to everyone for your comments!
January 24th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
A very useful article that was written.Will keep all that in mind when changing passwords in the future.
January 24th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Very interesting…
You can use passwords like this too:
5eCuriTy.. very strong and very easy to remember…
Cada vez me cuesta mas escribir en ingles.
January 25th, 2009 at 9:28 am
True information; I use all these tips. Many sites are now showing you the strength of your password as you make it. Some will not accept your password if it is too weak.
AC
January 25th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Good information. My pass words are so good I have to write them down because I can’t remember them.
January 25th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Great tips, Maria.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
The problem with creating a password is always the same. Make it too simple and it can easily be hacked into. Make it too difficult and you can’t remember it.
Sure, you can use “XaolsWd3@slfdoesS” as your password, but it’s quite hard to recall. Of course, you can write it down on paper, but if that paper ever gets lost or stolen, someone else will have access to your account, hence defeating the purpose of having a password in the first place.
The sad part is, hackers are quite common these days, and even the most difficult password can be deciphered over time, which is why you need to keep changing it.
January 28th, 2009 at 4:48 am
Great advice.