Eight Tips for Creating Bulletproof Passwords

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Strong passwords are an important way to protect your data from theft – and to avoid joining the more than nine million Americans victimized by identity theft each year. Darya Gudkova, head of content analysis and research for Kaspersky, also emphasizes the need for strong passwords. She recommends long passwords with a mix of different characters and letters. She also throws in several different languages to make her own passwords even tougher to crack. How do you create a bulletproof password that hackers can't crack? These tips from myID.com can help you set passwords that will keep your data stays secure.


Ban the basics! 

Never use words found in a dictionary, even written backwards, in another language, or with a simple number following.

Personal is Predicable! 
Anyone who knows you could guess your password if it uses your name or username, birthday, pet or favorite team, band or movie.

Size Matters! 
The longer the better. Passwords should be at least 8-14 characters and mix upper and lowercase letters, special characters and numbers.

Hooked on Mnemonics! 
Try working a mnemonic phrase into your password. For example, “Theres no place like home” would be translated to “TNPLH”.

Sell-By-Dates. 
Change passwords for online bank or credit card accounts every 1 to 2 months; others are good for maybe a few months. Mark your calendar.

To each his own. 
Don’t use the same password or similar patterns (word plus repeated number for example), so one cracked password doesn’t unlock all accounts.

Keep it secret, keep it safe. 
You would think people wouldn't need to be reminded of this but....  Don’t share passwords or store them on your computer or mobile device. The best place to store them is in your head or a locked safe.

PASSWORD is not a password. 
If an admin sets your password to PASSWORD change it FAST!