Securing your online password

Online-security experts recommend long, strong passwords for a reason—identity and information theft is rampant, and hackers have many tools at their disposal, which allow them to crack simple passwords like “123456” and “abcdefg.” In order to protect your identity and online information, a tougher password is a must. But there’s no need to memorise hexadecimal strings of random characters; there are several easy ways to create—and remember—strong, safe passwords.

 Go for length

The best passwords are at least seven characters long, and hopefully as long as 14 characters. The shorter a password is, the easier it is to crack.

 Find something random

Instead of using a word as your password, use a favourite quote, lyric, or phrase (containing at least 10 words), and use the first letter of each word as your password. If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair becomes “iygtsfbstwsfiyh.” Although the sequence is memorable and makes sense to you, it seems random to anyone else.

 Misspel deliberately

This doesn’t mean using common misspellings of regular words; rather, devise a creative misspelling of a word you can remember and that can make your password safer. For example, “Paris” can become “Pearisse.”

 Add some complexity.

Good passwords contain symbols, punctuations, deliberate misspellings, and a blend of lowercase and capital letters. Turn a simple password like “catlover” into a more secure version like “c@LUVr!”

 Add numbers

Passwords with numbers are harder to crack, but don’t use easy-to-guess numbers, such as the current year or your birthday. Choose seemingly random numbers (that have significance to you) and place them in the middle of the text for maximum security, or substitute numbers for multiple letters. An easy password like “basketball” can become “8a5k3tba1l.”

Other methods you can adopt include mixing up the above tips and using a password checker to validate the one you are settling for.

Culled: PUNCH