| Lot of people use their names
or other easily guessable words as their passwords. This beats the very
purpose of using a password. Dictionary word based passwords and other simple
passwords can be broken very easily through brute force attacks and
password cracking programs. Hence you must make
your passwords as complex as possible and also change them often. you do
not want your online info or e-mail boxes broken into. also, in an
increasingly IT enabled world, where bank accounts are becoming Internet
enabled there is an ever increasing importance for strong passwords.
Choosing a Strong Password
A strong password is as long as possible. Always use at
least six characters in your password; most systems allow up to
eight characters. The longer the password, the more difficult it is to
attack with a brute-force search.
Strong passwords:
 | Have both upper and lower case letters. |
| Have digits and/or punctuation characters as well as
letters. |
| Are easy to remember, so they do not have to be
written down. |
| Are seven or eight characters long. |
| Can be typed quickly, so someone else cannot look
over your shoulder and learn it. |
You might also try using phrases for strong passwords,
for example:
| rsKf0myH&1W2sYU - Raindrops keep falling on my head
and I want to steal your umbrella. |
| wru2rxy? - Who are you to ask why. |
| bWiIso3! - Beware the ides of March! |
A strong password is not:
| Personal information such as your name, phone number,
social security number, birth date or address. Even names of
acquaintances and the like should not be used. |
| Any word in the dictionary, or based closely on such
a word (such as a word spelled backwards). |
| A word with letters simply replaced by digits. For
example, bl0wf1sh is not a strong password. |
| Easy to spot while you're typing them in. Passwords
like 12345, qwerty (i.e., all keys right next to each other), or nnnnnn
should be avoided. |
Future: Second Tier Security;
Passwords have their limitations hence passwords
combined with other form of authentication are gaining in popularity. This
like a bank ATM card will consist of a PIN code plus either a biometric
based or ordinary form of card based authentication.
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