Simple passwords leave you open to hackers and identity thieves. You should avoid passwords that are:
- Dictionary words (E.g. Opossum), or
- Series or repeats of numbers or digits (E.g. 123456, aaaabbbb), or
- Personal information (like your name, license number, street address, etc.)
While Microsoft is not always correct (Windows Vista?), they have a great definition of a “strong” (I.e. safe) password. It should be:
- 6 characters or longer,
- Be made up of characters from the four principal character categories (I.e. capital letters, small-case letters, numbers, and symbols,) and
- Include at least one character from 3 or more of the character categories listed above.
Here’s a simple way to make a “strong” password that you can remember:
- Start with a simple, lower-case phrase like: my first car was a 68 mustang
- Keep just the first letter of each word: mfcwa68m
- Make letters alternate between capital letters and small letters: MfCwA68m
- Start or finish the password with a symbol: MfCwA68m!
To check to see if your password is a “strong” one, you can use the password checker from Microsoft at:
https://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/checker.aspx?WT.mc_id=Site_Link
