Tips to choose a good password
Choosing a strong and secure
password is essential for protecting your online accounts. Here are some tips
to help you choose a good password:
- Length: Make your password sufficiently long. Aim
for a minimum of 12 characters or more. Longer passwords are generally
harder to crack.
- Complexity: Include a mix of uppercase and
lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters in your password. This
increases the complexity and makes it harder to guess or crack.
- Avoid personal information: Avoid using personal
information like your name, birthdate, or phone number in your password.
Hackers can easily obtain this information and use it to guess your
password.
- Avoid common words and patterns: Avoid using common
words, dictionary terms, or easily guessable patterns (e.g.,
"123456" or "qwerty"). These passwords are vulnerable
to dictionary attacks.
- Unique passwords: Use a unique password for each of
your online accounts. Reusing passwords across multiple accounts increases
the risk of all your accounts being compromised if one password is
breached.
- Passphrase: Consider using a passphrase instead of
a single word. A passphrase is a combination of words that are easy for
you to remember but hard for others to guess. For example, "correct
horse battery staple" is a passphrase that is easier to remember than
a random string of characters.
- Avoid common substitutions: Avoid predictable
character substitutions, such as replacing "o" with
"0" or "e" with "3". Hackers are familiar
with these patterns and can easily guess them.
- Randomness: Generate passwords randomly rather than
using predictable patterns. Randomly generated passwords are harder to
crack.
- Password managers: Consider using a password
manager to generate and store your passwords securely. Password managers
can generate strong, unique passwords for each site and remember them for
you.
- Regularly update passwords: Periodically update
your passwords, especially for your most sensitive accounts. This helps
maintain the security of your accounts over time.
Remember, the goal is to create a strong, unique, and memorable password. It's important to strike a balance between complexity and usability. While strong passwords are crucial, it's equally important to protect them by implementing other security measures like two-factor authentication and keeping your devices secure.