How to Choose a Safe Password

Password and pin code creation is a common occurence to anyone with a computer and Internet connection. These can be used for online banking, credit card payments and transactions, and logging on to Web sites. Everyone even needs a password of some sort to get onto their Web-based email. Many people feel it is okay to create simple and easy to remember passwords. However, these won’t necessarily be safe passwords. The easier it is for you to remember, the easier it will be stolen by someone else! Here are some steps for choosing a safe password that is still easy for you to remember.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet access

1. A safe password is a longer password. No matter how you look at it, it will take someone trying to steal a password longer to figure out a 13-character password than a 4-character password.

2. A safe password is one which uses uppercase letters, lower case letters and numbers. Many times, symbols can also be used to increase the safety of a password. Although spaces are not normally allowed, the symbol “_” is allowed.

3. A safe password is one that you can remember but will be hard for anyone else to guess. This is limiting, as you won’t be able to use the names of your spouse or kids, your street or even the place you work. You also will have to avoid using your birthday, phone number and portions of your SSN.

4. A safe password is personal. Whether written down (which is not recommended) or not, it should only be known by one person--you!

5. A safe password is changed occasionally. Every six months is okay, but every four months is better, if you can.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid stringing characters together in a logical progression, like “12345678” or “abcdefgh.”
• Substitute symbols or numbers that are similar to letters in a password. For example, the “$” could be substituted for an “s” or the “0” could be substituted for an “O”.
• Beware of anyone asking for “verification of your password” or any such request. Legitimate businesses will not ask you for any kind of personal information, including anything to do with your passwords!