Practical tips for effective passwords
We all know what an “excellent” password contains. But really who can remember a different complicated password for every website? Here’s a few best practices for keeping your data safe:
- Yes, the more complicated the password, the harder it is to crack. So always use a combo of both upper and lower cases, numbers and special characters. But mix up the positioning of those characters. Don’t just add a number sequence to the end of your password, like this: Password1234! Instead, try something like B612#ob1
- Avoid words with personal meaning like pet names or kids names, and definitely don’t use the title of the website, your log-in name, or “password”.
- Avoid using the same password on multiple accounts – especially do not use the same password for accounts with sensitive information (like your email or bank accounts) as you do for online accounts (like CNN.com or Pandora.com).
- Change them regularly. Set up a recurring email reminder on your calendar every quarter.