Tips for Choosing a Good Password
Here are some tips on how to choose a secure password. Please note, you are responsible for the safe storage and use of your password – passwords should never be written down or stored where people can easily access it, and passwords should never be shared with anyone.
1. Avoid Simple Dictionary Words
Single, everyday dictionary words are some of the easiest passwords to break and, therefore, should be avoided. As an example, you choose the word raincoat.
Raincoat is a common word, so chances are the computer would find raincoat in its dictionary, and a cracker may be able to quickly discover your password using automated methods. You bought this computer in 2023, so you might try raincoat23 as your password. This is a better choice as it includes numbers as well as letters. It can be improved, however, using a couple of additional techniques.
2. Use Substituted Letters
One simple technique is to substitute letters for numbers. o becomes 0, i becomes 1, and e becomes 3 are three common substitutions. So, we could make our password ra1nc0at23.
3. Use Mixed Capitalisation
It is always advisable to mix the case of the letters used when selecting a password. Most computer systems are case sensitive, that is, they perceive the character F as being different to f. A basic way of mixing case would be to capitalise the first letter, making your password as Ra1nc0at23. This is a standard way of capitalising words, and is therefore more likely to be guessed, although still better than not using capitalisation at all.
It is also possible to develop rules to use when selecting a password, like “after every substituted letter, the next letter will be a capital”. It sounds difficult to remember now, but once you’ve chosen a few passwords using the same rule, it becomes easier. In this case, using the above rule, the password becomes ra1Nc0At23.
4. Use Non-Alphanumeric Characters
Non-Alphanumeric characters are symbols that are not letter or number characters (such as @ $ ! #) Special characters can be inserted at any part of the password, such as: $ra1Nc0At23, ra1N#c0At23, or !ra1N!c0At23!
The string of characters may appear meaningless, but, with the application of a couple of rules, a simple word, together with associations which are meaningful to you, have resulted in a password which is still relatively easy to remember, yet extremely difficult to crack.