There are a couple of rules that can be followed to help create a strong password.
Password Length – Stick with passwords of at least 8 characters in length. More is always better.
Password Complexity – try and have a mix of characters.
- Lower case
- Upper case
- Numbers
- Special characters – ! $ & { [ ^ ? (some websites won’t allow all of these)
Passphrases – These are like common sayings, song titles, famous lines in movies or the likes where you use the first letter of each word. e.g. “Passwords are like underwear, change yours often!” phrase can be converted to a strong password “Prlu,Curs0!” or “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!” and convert it to “Ywtt?Ychtt!”
Things to avoid – weak passwords
- Making the password similar or the same as the username.
- Name of family members, friends or pets.
- Using personal information eg DOB, phone number, license plate, street name or address.
- Sequences – consecutive numbers or letters eg qwerty, 12345, abcdefg
Password common sense
- When changing your password don’t just add a number to the previously used one eg ? password1, password2
- We recommend that you change your passwords at least every 6 months. A brute force attack to guess the password will always succeed if allowed enough time if you don’t change it.
- Never write down your passwords as these are usually kept right next to your computer where they are easily found.
- Don’t share your password with anyone.
- Try not to keep the same password for multiple sites.
- Never send your password to anyone via email. If someone requests this from you, it most likely is a scam.
- Change password immediately when they are compromised – this gives peace of mind as well.
Need help – try this website which will help put the above and more into action as you create a password to use – http://passwordmeter.com/
