Choosing a password sounds like a really obvious statement and stupidly easy topic to cover doesn’t it. We all know we should choose safe passwords, we know the importance of it and we ALL CHOOSE SECURE PASSWORDS don’t we? Don’t we? I can already see you’re brain turning over thinking of all those websites where you don’t have safe passwords. It’s not only choosing secure passwords but where and how we use them that’s equally as important. For example if you have an ultra secure password you use for Internet banking do you also use this same password for your favourite clothing websites password? If any of the above rings true read on – else congratulations you’re safe, pat on the back to you!
Choosing Your Password
First step to password security is selecting your password. I’m sure everyone knows what makes a secure password but there has to be a compromise between security and being able to remember it. A rough rule for passwords is:
- Password Length must be between 6-10 characters. Any shorter is insecure and any longer is plain crazy!
- Mixture of Upper and Lower Case letters
- At least one number in the password
- Try getting a symbol in there like ! or @
Sounds confusing to make a password doesn’t it? Thankfully you don’t have to work one out for you thanks to the guys at pc tools who have made this great password generator.
So what are you waiting for? Generate a couple of passwords so you can use them on different sites. Why generate a few? well read on!
Using Your Password
Now you have generated your safe passwords you need to ensure you use them in the right way. Get together a list of your top few websites you visit and write them down. Now look at the type of web hosting website they are – some will be secure, some will be shopping sites and some will be social websites or random other ones. For instance you’re list might look like:
- Royal Bank of Scotland
- Amazon
- Ebay
- Paypal
- web-hosting-support (I hope!!)
- Your latest fashion website
Having a secure password isn’t just a case of creating a safe one and using it for everything. You need to ensure you use your passwords for different things. Have one password for sites which would be a disaster if they got hacked (banks / paypal etc..), have another for shopping sites like amazon which if got hacked might cause a headache but you could recover and another for everything else.
Splitting websites you use up like this ensures your passwords remain secure and don’t get into the wrong hands. For instance if you have a secure password you use for paypal you don’t want to use it on a random site you haven’t been to all that much before – keep it close to your chest!
