How To: Create A Strong Password

Why do you need a strong password? Often times, all a hacker needs to gain access to your personal information is a username and password. The best way to keep your online accounts secure is by using strong and unique passwords. Strong passwords are hard to crack, and unique passwords safeguard your accounts should one become compromised.

What makes a strong password? A strong password is at least eight characters long and uses a combination of letters (upper and lowercase), numbers and symbols. It’s also best to avoid using the same password for your online accounts. Here are a few tips to creating a strong and secure password.

Start with a phrase that is memorable to you, for example: blackfootrocks. Add variation to the phrase by using capitalization, numbers and symbols in place of the letters. In this example, we replaced six letters with variations: Bl@ckf00tRock$. Try this with a phrase that has meaning to you!

A few notes on what not to use:

• Any variation of your name.
• Personal information such as your birthday, street address or other easy-to-identify names.
• Common phrases, such as “password” or “logmein.”
• Groups of keys on the keyboard, such as “12345” or “abcdef.”

Put your password’s strength to the test at https://howsecureismypassword.net. Fun fact: According to the website, it would take a computer 429 billion years to crack the “Bl@ckf00tRock$” password we created.