Tips To Create A Secure Password
Whenever I make an account online, whether it be email, Facebook, Twitter, or on game sites, they all contain relatively the same password. Even though using the same password for multiple accounts is against the unwritten code of the Internet, I do it anyway. Why? Because it makes things easier to remember, as I hate having to think about different passwords every time I want to log in somewhere.
The NYTimes came up with four tips to help people create stronger passwords, ones that are less likely to be found out. When making a password, one important rule of thumb is to remember there are bots out there specifically designed for guessing passwords. They use words in the dictionary to try and hack an account. Therefore, one important tip is to make sure whatever password you create does not bear any words that can be traced to a dictionary. In addition, try not to make your password your name, a loved one’s name, a pet’s name, or a town name.
Passwords should be kept quiet and hardly used in normal everyday conversation. Twitter and Facebook are websites notoriously known for being targeted by hackers who feast on unsuspecting people. If you mention text out of the ordinary on any site, people may think it is your password and attempt to hack your account. A lot of social networking sites, not just Facebook and Twitter, are under attack everyday.
In case your passwords typically contain words that can be found in the dictionary, or if you use your own name; there are ways to strengthen that password. Let’s say, for instance, my password was going to be nateshsood. Here are a few ways that I could strengthen that seemingly easy to hack password. nateshsood —-> nAt35hs00D. It goes from a simple, weak password to one that features both numbers and capital letters.
The last tip is to use a line or phrase from your favorite song, book, poem, or movie. Phrases such as those would not only be hard to guess, but they would be long passwords which is always a good thing to have for your password. To take that one step further, why not add random numbers and capital letters to increase the strength of the password.
Overall, it is very important to choose your passwords wisely because the last thing you want is someone who just got access to every account you ever made. If you know of any other tips for a strong password, be sure to leave us a comment below.
