How to pick a good Password
From YWAMKnowledgeBase
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Security is important. Password protect your computer, your information, and your identity so it's important to use password that are not easy to guess or break.
There are a host of programs out there designed rapidly find weak passwords. A weak password is one that is easily broken or guessed. These days any single word that is in the dictionary is a weak password and they programs will crack it in seconds. It takes only slightly longer for it to figure out a dictionary work with a few numbers tacked on the end eg Password123. Strong password are passwords that are not easily discovered or broken.
A recent security breach at hotmail.com offered the possibility to view 10,000 password users had chosen. An analysis of these passwords showed that at least 40% of the passwords were very weak.
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Picking a Good Password
The fact is that most of the time, people prefer convenience to a secure password. Of course, a simple forum user doesn't have a top secret password, but don't forget the mentioned speed of those who will want to crack it.
The Basics
Don't use: password, administrator, root or any of the top 500 worst-passwords-of-all-time.
Don't use: your name, your date of birth, your children's date of birth, or other personal details.
Don't use: YWAM acronyms (like DTS) or other words that can be easily guessed by looking at the context.
Do use: a combination of UPPER CASE, lower case, numbers (0-9) and symbols (everything else).
The following methods are ordered from very easy to very secure. The actual strength that you need may depend on the use case: for online banking you will likely choose a rather secure one.
Method 1 - Shifting your hands
If you touch type an easy way to great strong passwords is to shift your hands up one row on the keyboard and then type a word as you normally.Here are some examples:
Accounting=> Qdd97h58ht MySecret => J6W3d435 Time =>%8j3
Method 2 - Substitution
E ore=> 3 S or s => 5 L or i => 1 O or o => 0 (zero) i =>!
Ok you get the idea, make up some of your own.
MySecret => My53cr3t
(Note that some password crackers know these simple substitutions and so kevin and k3v1n can be guessed quicker than you might think. Do make up your own!!)
Method 3 - Insert Special Characters or Spelling Mistakes
Insert a special character (like%,!:$+*. etc.) somewhere in the middle:
M%ySe-_cret
Alternatively, you can use unusual spelling mistakes:
MeiSeqret
Method 4 - Passphrases
Put a bunch of words together to make a pass phrase. eg:
IloveJesusEverydayMore
Or the same with some Substitution (method 3):
1L0veJ3su5Ev3rydayMor3
Most of the time, you can even use the blank (space) character:
I love Jesus, everyday more.
Method 5 - Shortened Passphrases
Use initial letters of a phrase to create an obscure password
slan4atf! = So Long And Thanks For All The Fish! (Douglas Adams) 4GsltwthgHos! = For God so loved the world that he gave His only son!
Method 6 - Password Generators
You can generate a random password online at Perfect Passwords without installing anything.
Also most password filing program have their own random password generators. I like and use Any Password. You can also use KeePass (or KeePassX if you're on Mac/Linux).
