Everyone is always told that they need to create strong passwords for their computers or other applications but would you believe that the top five most common passwords are:
- password
- 123456
- 12345678
- 1234
- qwerty
The main reason that these passwords are used is because we have a lot of passwords and it’s really hard to remember them all. Here are a few tips for creating strong passwords that can be remembered easily.
Strong passwords should have the following characteristics:
- It should have a combination of numbers, capitals and special characters.
- Have a different password for each account you use (never mix personal and work passwords)
- Use two factor authentication whenever possible
- Use a secure password manager such as Passwordstate and Lastpass
With all of the above in mind, here are some tips on creating strong passwords that are easy to remember:
- Take the first letter of a favourite song, book or movie. So if you are a fan of The Fast and the Furious 2 you could start with “Tfatf2”
- Increase the complexity of the password by swapping letters for numbers. In this case, swap the ‘t’ for a ‘7’ so you now have “Tfa7f2”.
- Extend the length to at least 8 characters. You have a couple of options to make it longer:
- Add the year the movie came out: “Tf@7f2!2003”.
- Use initials from the full movie title: “Tf@tf2!2F2F”.
- Turn it into a phrase: “Tf@tf2!istheb3st”.
If this is still too hard to remember, then you could look at using the registration number of our car still mixing up capitalisation of letters and adding a few special characters or if that is still too much look at getting a secure password manager which can not only store passwords but also generate them for you as well.
Contact Us
Don’t let weak passwords compromise your security. For personalised assistance and more cybersecurity tips, contact us at Netier, your trusted IT partner. We are here to help you fortify your defenses and keep your information safe.
Get in touch today to learn more about how we can support your IT needs.
