Articles 

Creating Stronger Passwords

10/23/2007 -

The internet has provided a stream conveniences. We can access a vast amount of information, do our banking, pay bills, and even shop online. However, with these many benefits arises the need for consumers to take extra precautions to protect themselves from hackers and phishing schemes. 

With Identity theft on the rise, it is important that you become security savvy when creating and maintaining passwords while utilizing the internet. Protect yourself by using good password management techniques.

Four steps to creating stronger passwords:

1) Make sure your password is longer than 6 characters long.  I recommend 8 or more characters. Shorter passwords are much easier for a hacker to break. Plus, there are smart tools that a hacker can use to speed up the process of cracking your password just as if it were a combination lock.

2) The characters used in your password can make a big difference.  Make sure that your password has a mix of upper and lower case letters.  Your password will be even stronger if you add numbers and symbols. For example, using the word "sample" for your password would be considered weak. The password would become stronger if it were "Sample." It would be even stronger if it were "$ampLe."

3) Avoid using any of your personal information when creating a password.  Steer away from using your name, birthdates, any part of your Social Security Number, etc.

4) Change your passwords every three months. It is not a good practice to use the same password for any account too long. 

[Back to Top]   [Print]   [Share This]