Passwords. Tips and A New Trick

 

Passwords are a pivotal part of our current digital age and a concept that has been part of our daily life for numerous years.  Yet we struggle creating secure passwords.  WHY?  We have busy lives and don’t need more information to remember, plus the only time we are prompted to create a password is when we are in a hurry.  But considering the importance of the information passwords protect, we should take some time to pre-generate an idea or two for when we are prompted for our next password.

Should be greater than 8 characters.
Should contain lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and symbols.
Should not contain personal information, People, Pets, Places
Substitute letters for numbers.

 

Using the above standard password tips I have created my new password(/\/\Ypa$$w0rd).  My password meets all the recommend tips but it’s hard to type and hard to remember.  This doesn’t mean these tips are bad suggestions it's the way I implement them.  My recommendation for creating a secure password is focusing on length and we can achieve this by creating a short story.  Let try creating a couple password using the standard password tips but creating the password as a short story.

5fastBrownfoxes!crossedTheroad
2orange%bouncing%ballS
rainySundayafternoon!2016

 

Each of these password is over 20 characters and should be easier to remember and type.  I would encourage you to take a couple of minutes to pre-generate your next password or update one of your current passwords.

TL;DR
Creating secure passwords can be a difficult task but with some simple tips and a new trick your next password should be simpler to create but harder to break.