Password Mayhem

When Remembering Passwords become hard work. 

With the advent of  cloud technology came a myriad of sites and mobiles apps you can use.  Everyone of them requiring a unique and complicated password.  Keeping track of these passwords has become hard work.

Add to this the fact that every hacker and his mate out their wants to get their hands on your password and you find yourself dreading "the password change".

If you opt for random generated passwords you will not remember them because they are just a bunch of numbers and letters in a random order that no human can understand.

So here are some tips to keep your passwords safe.

• Don't write down your password or store it on any device
• Make sure your password is complex enough that it can't be guessed.  1111 or 1234 is not a option here.
• Never put the "remember me" option on on when you a visit a website

Most websites measure the "strength" of your password and here are some guidelines to choose a strong password:

• Make sure it's longer than 8 characters
• Have at least one capital letter, one number and one symbol (e.g. #$&) 
• Use a combination of lower case and upper case characters

All this sounds quiet complicated but there is an easy and I have found and the following is a simple way to have unique and strong passwords per app or site.

Step 1

Choose a word that you will remember.   Make it an object you use a lot or a name of a brand you like or your cousins nickname, be creative.  A word of warning here, stay away from your name, children's names, your spouse's name or even pet names.  For my example I will choose....  "Battery"  (Note it's got and uppercase in already)  To make it more secure I am going to use "batterY"

Step 2

Add a number and a symbol.  I like the "&" and the "#"  and my lucky number is 13.

So now I have...   batterY#13

Step 3

Add the name of the site or app you need the password for.  For example I need a password for my Microsoft Live account  so it will be "live"

My complete password....   batterY#13live

For Google Gmail it might be....  batterY#13gmail

Another added complication some companies have is that you have to change your password every 30 days for this I suggest adding the year and month.

For Example....  batterY#13Oct15  (for October 2015).  Play around with the character case here to make it more secure  e.g.   batterY#13ocT15

Most websites have a way to recover your password and reset and if all else fails use this feature.  It is safe (most of the times).

More importantly limit your "digital footprint".  Be aware of what information you put out onto the internet.  Do not put social security or id number, bank details or credit card details out on public sites.  If you have to put credit card details out on public sites make sure that these are reputable site and always read the terms and conditions on these sites.  They are there to protect you.

Remember don't work hard think smart.