Online security: Creating and remembering a strong password

Do you use the same password to log in to different online accounts and websites? Is your password simple, so that you don’t forget it? Do you use your Google or Facebook accounts to log in to your apps?

If so, you might already be making the hackers’ lives easier! Read on to learn how to create and remember stronger passwords.

How to create a strong password

One of the best ways to have a secure password is making sure it is long enough—at least 20 characters long. Moreover, there should be a different password for every service, app, or account.

Do 20 characters seem like overkill? Developers at top companies regularly use passwords with up to 100 characters—and change them regularly.

A password should contain lower-case letters, capitals, at least one numeral, and ideally one punctuation character (question mark, slash, etc).

How to remember passwords

Using a short sentence may help you remember a password. Simply join the words together to create a secure password like “WheredidSnowWhiteandthe7DwarvesLive?”.

For accounts containing sensitive information, create more complex passwords—and remember them. Pick simpler (yet still strong) passwords for the other accounts.

How to remember many passwords

Ideally, create a system for changing specific sections of a password, e.g., keep the number and the special character, but change the words.

For accounts that don’t require high levels of security, use the built-in function of browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox to remember the passwords. Other separate password management apps are also available (like 1password). These apps can store your passwords, which then get automatically filled in at login by the browser or password manager.

All password managers require a master password to unlock, so choose this one very carefully. It is the only password you will have to remember. ?

Passwords to avoid

Avoid using the most common, seemingly secure passwords that meet the requirements above, i.e., Aa123456. or 1qaz2wsx3edc. Just to be safe, take a look at this list of the world’s 100 worst passwords.

TIP: Don’t forget to secure your devices

We often don’t log out from our accounts. Therefore, we must be sure to secure our devices as well.

Choose an appropriately secure password for your PC. Furthermore, never leave your PC unlocked when you’re not working, nor your workplace (let alone in public places).

As for smartphones, Face ID or fingerprint can help, but better than anything is a strong password.

No universal guide exists for creating a strong password that is also easy to remember. Everyone prefers something different. You just need to find your system. Then, creating passwords will be a piece of cake.

In the next part of our online security series, we will talk about two-factor authentication. Follow our blog or Facebook page to keep up with all the news. ?