Issue/Question
- What makes a good password?
- How can I make a good password?
Environment
Explanation
Password Don'ts
- Don't share your password with anyone
- Don't use a common word like a name, a pet's name, or a common word out of the dictionary
- Don't use a number that is easy to guess, like your birthday or phone number
- Don't leave your password in a place where someone can find it
Password Do's
- Do have a long password (12 or more characters)
- Do use special characters such as !@#$%^&*()_+/|\<>,.-
- Do use different passwords for different accounts
- Do change your password if you think there's a possibility that it has been compromised
Password Creation Techniques
Use a Passphrase
A passphrase is easy to remember as it is often made up of a series of words that are more easily recalled than a string of random numbers and letters.
One example of such a passphrase could be Bigfoot had tea with my mother. You can make your password even stronger by including purposeful misspellings, as well as special characters. For example BIGf0ot h@d tea weth me m()ther.
A word of caution when making passphrases: DO NOT use your favorite line or quote from a book, TV show, movie, etc. Hackers are getting smarter and have started to come up with huge lists of popular quotes from books and media in order to hack into long passwords that happen to be exact quotes.
Use a Random Password Generator
Using a random password generator makes a very strong password. However, these are usually hard to remember so you will have to store it somewhere safe, such as an electronic password manager.
Use a Password Manager
A Password Manager is essentially a site that you store all your passwords for different sites on. This could be dangerous if breached so you will want to be sure the site you are using is VERY secure. The benefit of using a Password Manager is that you only need to remember one strong password used to log in to the manager. Once logged in, you can set strong unique passwords for all of your accounts and won't need to remember them or write them down because the password manager has them stored in the cloud. Example password managers include LastPass and Keeper.
Assistance
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