Create a Strong Password

Posted August 21st, 2010 by Michael in category Windows 7 Tips

Let me see if I can guess your password.

Is it your name followed by four numbers representing your birthday?
Is it “123456?”
Is it “Password”?

Passwords are a primary means to control access to systems and should therefore be selected, used and managed to protect against unauthorised discovery or usage. Passwords provide the first line of defence against improper access and compromise of sensitive information.

If you are going to use a password for anything, you may as well make sure it is a strong password. “Strong” meaning that it would be difficult for someone to guess or crack the password using many of the tools available on the net.

Weak passwords are passwords that are easily guessable, crackable and vulnerable to attacks. Weak passwords make it very easy for hackers to gain access to an account and could lead to substantial financial loss and identity theft. Strong passwords should include the following best practices: -

Should not be left blank.
Must be at least eight characters in length.
Must contain a character from three of the following four character sets: -
- Lower case characters (e.g. a to z)
- Upper case characters (e.g. A to Z)
- Numeric digits (e.g. 0 to 9)
- Character symbols (e.g. + = ( ) & % ! ? > <)
Should not include three or more consecutive characters from your login or full name.
Should not be a word in any language, slang, dialect, jargon, etc. (e.g. the word password is a weak password).
Should not include your name, common names of people or places, technical jargon, repeating sequences and keyboard sequences.
Should not be written down or stored on-line.
Should be easily remembered. One way to do this is to create a password based on a song title.

Examples of Incorrect Passwords

qneb12?	Less than 8 characters long
SAL%YMBCA	Does not contain at least a character from 3 of the 4 character sets
2BOR!zmc48	Includes 3 or more consecutive characters from the login name (i.e. login name of the individual is BORGC066)
Welcome	Dictionary word

The most important tip out there though is this: Never give your password away. Like account sharing, that is something that should be obvious, but often. If you provide your password to friends or family members, they could accidentally compromise your security. It is not, because to mean but if your password is out there, there is no telling where they could use it, leave a computer to an unsafe track or to catch it in a place where someone unsavory could. Never forget request information in response to an email and remember that NEXON ask employees never after your password information. Once your password is “in the wind,” there’s no telling where it might in the end, and if you the same password for multiple accounts, it is not clear what could happen.