Computer and Network Security: Creating Better Passwords is Easy
Computer and network security starts with the creation and protection of good passwords. Here are a few tips to help you in creating better passwords.
When you create or change your password, try making it more difficult for others to guess using some of these tips:
• Use both alphabetic (upper and lower case), numeric and special characters (such as %, &, and !).
• Avoid using obvious names or words found in a dictionary in any language.
• Try to create a password that is long…at least 8 characters but the more the better.
• Try to make the password as random as possible. For example, you might use a phrase as the basis of a new password. Albert Einstein once said “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.” You could take the first letter of each word in this sentence to formulate a new 9 character password:
ginrfpfil
This is easy to remember but it still needs to be more complex. You could, for example, replace the letter i with a number 1:
g1nrfpf1l
You could also change the letter f to an upper case F:
g1nrFpF1l
You might also add a special character at the end to make it even more complex:
g1nrFpF1l&
Now, you have changed the phrase “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love” to a complex but easy to remember password. A password like this is fairly difficult if not impossible for computer programs to guess.
When you create complex passwords follow guidelines similar to these but don’t make the password too difficult to remember and don’t ever write it down.