Creating a secure password

The Characteristics of a Safe Password

Each password should meet the following criteria:

• You can’t find the password in a dictionary
• It contains special characters and numbers
• It contains a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters
• It contains at least 10 characters
• It can’t be easily guessed based on user information, such as a birthdate, postal code, or phone number

Create Individual Passwords for Every Account

Use a mnemonic

Use a phrase such as “I started 7th grade at Lincoln Middle School in 2010” and use the initial of each word like this: “Is7gaLMSi#2010.” And make them at least a little different (by adding a couple of unique letters) for each site.

Don’t post it in plain sight. This might seem obvious but studies have found that a lot of people post their password on their monitor or under their keyboard with a sticky note. Bad idea. If you must write it down, hide the note somewhere where no one can find it.

If you are having trouble thinking up a new password, try the online password generator below:

Secure Password Generator