Creating Secure Passwords

Posted on:  10/28/2016
Creating Secure Passwords

PASSWORD RULES TO FOLLOW:

For some reason people have a hard time creating secure passwords. The most likely reason is our brains aren’t wired to handle this much detailed information. In 2015, the average number of passwords per person was 90. I find that number to be on the low side. I personally have over 400 passwords.

Let me get back to the issue of creating a secure password.

Passwords should be:

  1. At least 16 characters.
  2. Contain a combination of numbers, symbols, uppercase letters, lowercase letters.
  3. Free of repetition, dictionary words, usernames, pronouns, IDs, and any other predefined number or letter sequences.
  4. Don’t use the same password for every account.

Examples of good passwords:

  • Rp5#3@xQ*ZkT@F2!cWu
  • Wz$29$zbWrd!#975pUxQ

Password brute force

 

Examples of bad passwords (people actually use these passwords):

  • 123456
  • password
  • ginger
  • sunshine
  • seinfeld
  • 12345678
  • qwerty
  • football
  • baseball
  • welcome
  • abc123
  • dragon
  • master
  • princess
  • starwars

Bad password

The website to see how secure your password is password.kaspersky.com If you use the site to test your password, don’t type in your real password. I tested one of my Gmail passwords, but changed a few numbers and changed the special characters. Results below.

My rule about passwords is this. If you can remember it easily, it’s probably a bad password.

Chris Menard

Chris Menard is a Microsoft Trainer (MCT) and works as a full-time Trainer at BakerHostetler - one of the largest law firms in the US. Chris runs a YouTube channel with 900+ technology videos that cover various tools such as Excel, Word, Zoom, Teams, Gmail, Copilot, Google Calendar, and Outlook. To date, the channel has helped over 20 million viewers. Menard also does 2 to 3 public speaking events yearly, presenting at the Administrative Professional Conference (APC), the EA Ignite Conference, the University of Georgia, and CPA conferences. You can connect with him on LinkedIn at https://chrismenardtraining.com/linkedin or watch his videos on YouTube at https://chrismenardtraining.com/youtube.

Categories