Create Strong Passwords

Since passwords protect your valuable personal information, it’s always a best practice to use strong passwords when creating a password. Characteristics of a strong password might include a combination of the following:

• A group of random characters that don’t include words found in the dictionary of any language
• At least 8 characters long (the longer the password, the harder it is for a hacker to guess)
• A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols (e.g., ! @ # $ % ^ & *) and numerals, including a least 1 letter and 1 number (passwords made up of a greater variety of characters are harder for hackers to guess)
• Based on words or phrases that are easy for you to remember, but difficult for a hacker to guess

The following suggests one way to create a strong password that could be easy for you to remember, but hard for a hacker to guess:

1. Think of a phrase that is easy to remember, such as:
   1. A line from a favorite song or poem, or the title of a book
   2. A phrase about your home, family or hobby
   3. A humorous, nonsensical phrase that’s easy to remember
2. Take the first letter of each word in your phrase to create the string of characters that will become your password, such as:
   1. Changing the passage from Romeo and Juliet “O swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon” to “Osnbtmtim”
3. Add numbers and upper- and lowercase letters to add complexity, such as:
   1. Substituting a zero for the initial letter “O,” making the two m’s for “moon” uppercase and substituting the numeral 1 for the letter “i” so it becomes “0snbtMt1M”

The new password is still easy to remember, but it is now much harder for a hacker to break.

Password practices to avoid

When creating a password, avoid the following:

• Dictionary words in any language
• Words spelled backward, common misspellings and abbreviations
• Sequences or repeated characters (e.g., 1234567, abc123, qwerty)
• Personal information such as your name, a loved one’s name, a birthday or similar information