Best Practice

The password you choose can make it easy or hard for malicious people to gain access to your computer account or your password manager.


Bad Passwords

A password is bad when it is:

  • Easy for humans or computers to guess
  • Hard for you to remember

Good Passwords

A password is good when it is:

  • Hard for humans or computers to guess
  • Easy for you to remember

Tips

  1. Make it long. 14-28 characters is ideal.
  2. Make it your own. Don't use words in the dictionary.
  3. Make it random. Don't use a series a words or letters that are often used together (i.e. John3:16)
  4. Don't use common substitutions.  Spelling Jesus J3$U$ or Password p@$$w0rd isn't hard to guess.
  5. Think of an image to remind you. It can be something imaginary an nonsensical.
  6. Use the first few letters from a random phrase that only makes sense to you.
  7. Don't use the same password for multiple things. Each site needs a unique password.


Comic from XKCD 



It doesn't stop with choosing a good password. Remember to:

  • Never share your password.
  • Never let others watch while you type your password.
  • Log out properly.


More Information:

How to Create a Strong Password (and remember it) - HowToGeek