An Easy Way to Remember Strong Passwords for Different Sites

 

An Easy Way to Remember Strong Passwords for Different Sites

The discovery of the Heartbleed security flaw has highlighted the importance of strong, frequently changed passwords.

One of the best tips that I know for remembering strong passwords that are different for each site is as follows:

First think of a phrase that you can associate with a particular site, e.g.

    Amazon - "the place where I go to buy stuff"

    Google - "where I search for all kinds of stuff"

at least 8 words long, if you can. Then create your password from the first letter of each word, e.g. for the above two examples you would get:

    tpwIg2bs

and

    wis4akos

substituting numbers for words that they sound like, where you can.

Even better is to make the case of letters go up and down according to some pattern that you choose, e.g.

    tPwIg2Bs

and

    wIs4AkOs

These are pretty strong passwords.

Important:

  • DON'T use these examples
  • When you change a password, DON'T just add one digit or letter - think of a whole new phrase
  • DON'T use a similar pattern of phrase for different sites
  • Above all, DON'T use the same password, or nearly the same password, for different sites

Also, be aware that some computers (usually those connecting to the internet via insecure routers) are vulnerable to Keystroke Loggers which eavesdrop on keys being pressed on your keyboard. NEVER use a password when connected to an insecure public Wi-Fi, or any router that you can't trust.

If you have to do that for some reason, remember to change your password for that site as soon as you are in a secure location again.

 

Brian Tooby

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