Your whole life is online. Your bank accounts, credit reports, social media, medical records and pictures of your kids are all out there waiting to be taken (or destroyed). In today’s always-connected society, it is increasingly important that we take extra steps to protect ourselves online.
Your first line of defense is a secure password (and no, using the word “password” is not secure). I often find that getting into someone’s computer is rather simple; just try every iteration of the word “password” (“password”, “Password”, “Password1”, “Password!” and “Password1!”) and I usually get in with ease. If these don’t work, I just look around and usually find their password on a “sticky note” nearby (and all of their other online accounts)
While I do understand you may have several passwords that you have to try to remember, and it IS tough; making your passwords super-simple also makes them an easy target for any malicious person. If you are at all concerned with your online privacy and security, keep reading. I will guide you on your first step to securing your online life!
Creating a More Secure Password
There are a couple of popular methods for making a more secure password. The first is making a password that is both secure and easy to remember. The second way is a bit more complicated but will provide you with a more secure password. Both methods are excellent as the end result is something a bit more difficult for someone to guess, it simply depends on how secure you wish to be.
Method 1: The Bruce Schneier Method
Your first line of defense is a secure password (and no, using the word “password” is not secure). I often find that getting into someone’s computer is rather simple; just try every iteration of the word “password” (“password”, “Password”, “Password1”, “Password!” and “Password1!”) and I usually get in with ease. If these don’t work, I just look around and usually find their password on a “sticky note” nearby (and all of their other online accounts)
While I do understand you may have several passwords that you have to try to remember, and it IS tough; making your passwords super-simple also makes them an easy target for any malicious person. If you are at all concerned with your online privacy and security, keep reading. I will guide you on your first step to securing your online life!
Creating a More Secure Password
There are a couple of popular methods for making a more secure password. The first is making a password that is both secure and easy to remember. The second way is a bit more complicated but will provide you with a more secure password. Both methods are excellent as the end result is something a bit more difficult for someone to guess, it simply depends on how secure you wish to be.Method 1: The Bruce Schneier Method
I love the feeling of pie between my toes!
No, I’m not insane (not totally anyway). This is just an example of the first step of this method for creating an easily remembered password. This method was created in 2008 by a security expert named Bruce Schneier. The idea is to come up with a memorable phrase or sentence and use that as a base for your password.
This method is a super-simple way to generate a semi-random set of characters that you can (fairly easily) remember.
The first step of this method is to create a phrase or sentence that is at least 8 words long. Then, simply use the first letter of each word in that phrase as a base for a password. In my example, the password would be “iltfopbmt!”. Sure, you can use that as a password as-is, but if you want to be a bit more secure follow on to the next step.After you have the initial string of letters, you need to make it a bit more secure. You can do this by making some letters capital such as “Iltfopbmt!”, exchanging letters for numbers such as “1ltf0pbmt!” or a mixture of both “Iltf0pbmt!”. If you want to make the password even more secure, you can use parts of the words combined with the above two methods, so your phrase eventually transforms into “1ltf0fp1ebmt!”.
You can read more about Bruce Schneier’s method here.
Method 2: Using Randomly Generated Passwords
Although difficult to remember, a password comprised of a randomly generated string of letters and numbers is a great way to make a secure password. A password that doesn’t contain a logical flow of letters or numbers like words or dates is extremely difficult to guess; even the simplest password cracking method called a dictionary attack, will be almost useless.The easiest way to make this type of password is by using one of the many websites that will accomplish this for free. Below are a couple of well-known secure websites you can use to generate your password. These websites don’t store the passwords you make (unless you want them to) and the generation is done on your computer without using anything on their servers.
The passwords generated with these tools will be a lot more difficult to remember, but will greatly increase your online security.
Remembering Your Passwords
Remembering Your Passwords
You might ask yourself, how the heck do you remember these complicated passwords? Well, you can use a password manager for keeping track of them! Password managers can securely store the passwords you use for any website. Most of them will even generate one of the random passwords mentioned above and automatically save it for each website you use. There’s even a secure notes section that you can use to store other information such as birthdates and answers to password security questions like your spouse’s mother’s maiden name.Below are a few popular and trusted password managers out there.
Want to check how strong the password you made really is? Use the below website to find out!
LastPass Password Checker
LastPass Password Checker
Conclusion:
Keeping yourself safe online is a daunting task, but making sure you have a strong password is a great first step. Follow these methods and you will be that much closer to a safer online presence.
Links from this Article:
LastPass Password Generator
Norton Password Generator
True Key Password Manager
Norton Identity Safe
LastPass Password Manager
LastPass Password Checker
Note that I am not sponsored or paid in any way by the companies mentioned in the contents of this article.
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