1. Never use a single word that you could find in a dictionary unless you MiXEd upper and lower case
2. Add a number or symbol preferably within the password
3. Change letters to numbers e.g. ‘o’ becomes ’0′ (zero), I becomes ’1′ or ‘!’ etc. Hello! would become he110!
4. For a great random password take the first letter of each word from a song title, TV programme, saying or phrase e.g. rdkfomh comes from Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head.
5. Don’t ever tell anyone your password, write it down or email it (yes I know many sites email passwords – they shouldn’t! A Skype or SMS message is more secure than email). If you must however then hide the fact that it’s a password somehow or give yourself a hint such as the first letter followed by a dot for each remaining character e.g. church would give c . . . . .
6. If you have to share you password for some reason then make sure you change it as soon as possible.
7. Make sure you have a copy of your passwords in an encrypted file (OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, WinZip or WinRar can all create encrypted files). Or, follow the password saving tips. Email a copy of the file to yourself on a monthly basis.
8. Using the same password: Do not reuse the same password time and time again. If a hacker got in to one of the sites and stole the user list they could use the information on other sites.
9. Avoid using family names, pets, street names, phone numbers etc.
10. For forums its OK (but not ideal) to reuse the same user name and password combination. Banks, Paypal, Google etc. should all have unique high quality passwords.

Some more thoughts on passwords.

See also

Posted on Sunday, January 20th, 2008 in: Tips.