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Creating safe passwords

by Barbara Feldman
Today the wired person can easily have a hundred passwords - one protecting your email, another for your stock portfolio, yet another for online bill paying and so on. Although someone stealing your password on a game network may not do as much damage as someone who works out your ATM PIN (automatic teller machine personal identification number), the concept remains the same.

Your private information and your entire digital identity are only as secure as your password.

A bad password is one that is easily guessed by someone who knows you. Examples of bad passwords:

  • your username
  • your name or nickname
  • names of anyone in your family
  • your pet’s name
  • your birthday or family birthdays
  • your phone number, social security number, or address

Good passwords have:

  • both letters and numbers
  • upper and lower case letters
  • at least six to eight characters

And the very best passwords are those that do not include words that can be found in the dictionary (such as snake424) but are gibberish (such as sN89k23.)

To sum up, choose your passwords wisely, change them often, and don’t ever share them with anyone.

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Created: 10/02/2004  Updated: 10/02/2004
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