Tips to Keep Passwords Safe

By Erin Monaghan

Although the Internet has made information easier to access, it has also made our personal information more vulnerable to attacks. Our lives are floating around in cyber space for anyone to see. In order to safeguard ourselves, we live behind a password–protected world. There are different login accounts for email, chats, forums, bank accounts, newspaper subscriptions and online dating.

The trouble is remembering our various passwords. So instead we use simple reminder things like our children’s names or our birthdays. Or we keep it simple and use the same password for all our logins. Hackers know and rely on people to do this. These are a few tips to avoid becoming a victim:

1. Make Passwords Strong

A strong password consists of a series of case-sensitive letters and numbers and is at least eight letters long. Microsoft says passwords longer than 14 characters are ideal. Typically the longer the password, the more difficult and time consuming it is to hack.

Don't use anything that can be found in a dictionary. Hackers use a dictionary attack method where a hacker will literally go through the entire dictionary, English and otherwise, trying to guess a password. This method typically takes less than a day to crack.

Another common hacking method is called brute force. Brute force is more time consuming than the dictionary attack, but it’s not impossible. This method basically goes through all the possible combinations of keys on a key board. Ideally the longer the password the more difficult it is to hack.

Weak passwords include addresses, family names, pet names, your high school, Social Security number, 123456, ABCDEF or any combination thereof. Never ever leave the field plain blank. These are sure fire ways to let strangers into your personal information.

2. Don’t Forget

One of the most common mistakes in creating a strong password is forgetting your great new password. Now, not only can hackers not get into your personal information, but neither can you.

The goal of creating passwords with letters, numbers and punctuation is to seem as random as possible. Find something that has meaning only to you. Get creative. A suggestion is to use the first letter of phrases, song lyrics, poetry or make up license plate sayings. For example, ”Spoiled Rotten” could be changed to ”5Poi1edRa10.”

After creating your password use it immediately and frequently during the course of the day. This will help with memorization.

Don’t use your great new password for everything. Think of a new one for all login accounts. This may seem like a hassle, but this way if one account is hacked or compromised; at least the others are safe.

There is some debate as to printing or writing passwords down. It is argued that if there is a hard copy, then anyone can hack into your system. If you do decide to print a master copy be sure to lock it in a safe, to which only you have the key.

3. Change it up a Little

Change passwords regularly. This means changing them once every month or two. This may seem like a hassle, but there are plenty of people in the world that would love to have access to bank codes and credit card information. Microsoft suggests changing passwords every 30 to 90 days.

Although juggling and making up passwords can be annoying and time consuming, it is the safest way to surf the Internet. There is password software available to help manage the plethora of usernames and passwords associated with our modern computer world. These programs aid in creating passwords and automatically saving information. Think of it this way; we wouldn’t leave our homes unlocked and allow strangers to come in. Why would we do that with our computers?

Resources Used

Microsoft, (March 22, 2006). Help protect your personal information with strong passwords. Retrieved June 13, 2006, from Microsoft.com Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/privacy/password.mspx

Security Stats Inc., (2000). Password Security. Retrieved June 14, 2006, from SecurityStats.com Web site: http://www.securitystats.com/tools/password.php

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