Random Passwords Are The Way to Go
If you care about the security of any of your accounts you would be sure to pick a strong password. If you don’t care, then sure, go ahead and set your Password1 or 1234567 password. But seriously, as a person who has worked in technology for years now, you would be surprised how many folks have the simplest passwords.
Use a Password Safe
Use a password safe and then you can probably get a baby to pick a nice random password for you. Really, I let my son play with my laptop for a bit (the fun stops when he starts pulling keys out) and this looked nice and random. But be wary of the spaces (not all systems support a large character set). Most password safes support creating random passwords for you if you don’t have a baby handy!
If you want to take security a step further, memorize a part of your password and store the remaining part in your password safe. That way, in case someone manages to hack your password safe, they’re left with random passwords that are meaningless.
Birthdays, Pets’ Names, and Telephone Numbers
No, I am not recommending to use your birthday, nor your pet’s name. Well, not really. You can do so, but change it ever so slightly. One suggestion is a Caesar cipher. If you have a dog named, “Fido”. That can be converted to “Svqb”. This can be your part of the password that you have memorized. The rest of the password can be in your password safe.
Obviously, you’ll need to rely on your memory. But the key is to be secure while allowing yourself to remember how you have secured it. There are a lot of simple, yet effective tricks to creating strong passwords. If you want to be secure, start with strong passwords.
This text has been secured with ROT13 twice for maximum security. ;-)