Author: Paul Lubic
In Passwords Part I: Why Do We Need Them? we discussed the importance of using strong passwords. In this article, we’ll describe strong passwords and how to create them.
So, what makes a password weak or strong…aren’t they all the same? Well, no…they aren’t the same, especially to hackers and their password-breaking programs as mentioned in Part I. Essentially what makes a password strong is its length in characters and the combination of capital and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. You see, a strong password should resemble a string of random characters to a hacker. Let’s take these characteristics one at a time.
The longer the password the stronger it is. Your password should be at least 8 characters in length and the more characters you add, the stronger it will be. Fourteen characters or more is ideal. I know…right about now you’re saying, “I have a hard time remembering my cell phone number; how am I going to remember a password with all these characters?” Settle down, don’t get all puffy faced…I’ll tell you how to create and remember the strongest passwords.
One good technique is to think of a phrase that you can remember; such as “strong passwords” (please don’t use this or any example as your real password). The password would look like “strongpasswords”, a weak password, by the way, according to Microsoft’s really sweet Password Checker found at http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/checker.aspx . Now let’s make it stronger by using capitals and substituting numbers for look-alike letters and adding a special character such as “Str0ngP455w0rd5!” rated as “best strength”.
We obtained the “best strength” level by mixing up the types of characters. For instance, capitalizing some letters and not others has helped. A password with greater than 8 characters helps. Using numbers and symbols will also strengthen it. Note that the letter O was replaced with zeros, the letter A was replaced by the number four, and the letter S was replaced by the number five. Then we added an exclamation point character at the end.
Remember, the more variety of characters in your password, the harder it is for hackers to guess. I’ve always been one that follows the Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) principal, but this is one time complexity is a very good thing. Trust me on this.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/passwords-part-ii-what-are-strong-passwords-anyway-1296232.html
About the Author:
Paul Lubic is a seasoned IT guy who’s used computers at home for more years than he’d care to say. His objective is to use this article and his blog site to pass on lots of valuable information that you can use in your home computing endeavors. Check back often to see what he’s up to at Paul’s Home Computing Blog at http://www.paulshomecomputingblog.wordpress.com.
Remember, home computing is a blast…keep it productive and enjoyable.
Paul E. Lubic, Jr.
paulshomecomputing@yahoo.com
