Quiz:
Which of the following two passwords is stronger,
more secure, and more difficult to crack?
D0gs………………..
PrXic.N(n4k07#L!eVdJfp9
Answer:
D0gs………………..
Why? Because it has one more character than the other one.
The Explanation:
What makes a password more or less secure?
- Are you using a common password like, “123456”, “Password”, “God”, “Admin”, “qwerty” (be creative)
- How long is the password? (most are less than 6 characters, I use 12 for general website and 16+ for banking)
- Is the password all lowercase letters? (Add Uppercase letters)
- Does the password contain numbers? (Add numbers)
- Does the password contain special characters? (Add special characters like “.-{<>’ etc.)
- Do you use the same password for all your accounts? (use a password manager so you can have different passwords for different accounts)
The point of this article is that stronger passwords don’t have to be confusing. but by adding some “padding characters” you can make your password memorable yet much more secure. (Please don’t use all periods, again be creative).
You’ve probably heard that you shouldn’t use your birthdate or children’s names or other personal info as your password. By themselves that would be an easy password to break. But what if you applied this article to your easy to remember password?
Samu3l>”>”>”>”>”
Even if you knew that I like to use my son’s name as my password, you still could not guess what my password is.
But don’t use the same password for all your logins. Find a good password manager to help you out. Lastpass, Roboform, and 1Password are all my favorites. 🙂
What are your thoughts?
Leave comments below along with your ideas. And go change those passwords right now!