How To Create A Strong Password You Can Remember

Everyone wants to be able to create ultra-powerful passwords, especially for their most sensitive accounts. It’s common knowledge that a strong password can go a long way to preventing identity theft. However, no one wants to struggle to remember their most used passwords. If you have to resort to writing it down and keeping it in your wallet, doesn’t that defeat the purpose?

Finding the balance between strength and ease of recollection can be difficult. Luckily, there are several great techniques that we can utilize to help find that sweet spot. Before we discuss those, let’s review some basics of password strength:

Password Basics

Length – The majority of resources agree that your password should be at least 8 characters in length. Each site may have different limits on the length this allowed. In general, the longer the better.
Makeup – There are 4 different classes of characters that you should incorporate. Integrating all 4 classes will minimize the risk of your accounts being compromised. They are:

1. Lower Case Letters
2. Upper Case Letters
3. Numbers
4. Symbols (Especially ones that aren’t shift-alternatives for numbers)

Common Mistakes To Avoid

In general, stay away from the categories below. If you must use them, be sure to combine them with the techniques discussed later.
Avoid using basic personal information. This can include:

• Names of family members, close friends, or pets
• Birthdays, Anniversaries, Dates Of Birth
• Social Security Numbers, Pin Numbers, Account Numbers
• Current Or Previous Addresses, Phone Number

Avoid using you any portion of your Username. Variations of the Username are the first things generic password hacking software will attempt.
Avoid sequences. Ensure that you do not use ‘abcdefg’ or ’123456′. Also be weary of keyboard sequences, such as ‘qwerty’ or ‘asdf1234′ or even shapes like ‘rfvbnhyt’.
Avoid keeping default passwords. This is important because identity thieves can often find out how popular sites generate their random passwords (or at least the format). It’s essential to change these as quickly as possible.
Avoid complete words, especially common ones - The most basic password hacking software often checks databases of common dictionary words (even in foreign languages). No, spelling words backwards does not get around this, either.

How to Make A Strong Password

If you follow these tips, you will not only have a strong password but you’ll be known throughout the land as the one to go to when someone has a password in need of some bulking up.
Use Leet Speak – (|_ 337 $!*3@|<)
This can simply be described as substituting a letter in a word for either numbers or symbols. Wikipedia has put together a fantastic table, which displays basic substitutes for each letter. Here are the basic letter to number scenarios as outlined by Wikipedia:

• 0 can be used for O (or D)
• 1 can be used for I (or L)
• 2 can be used for Z (or R and Ä)
• 3 can be used for E
• 4 can be used for A
• 5 can be used for S
• 6 can be used for G (or B)
• 7 can be used for T (or L)
• 8 can be used for B
• 9 can be used for P (or G and Q)

However, using only numbers won’t create the strongest passwords. It’s important to use symbols (especially those that aren’t shift-alternatives for numbers) too. For example:

“Baker” can be turned into “|3 @ !< 3 )2″

Creating an Acronym from a Phrase
This is a common password technique that can really go a long way in helping you remember your password. It also does a great job at randomizing the sequence of letters. For Example:

“I Love Rocky Road Ice Cream With Sprinkles” would morph into “ilrricws“

Misspell Common Words
Most commonly you can use this technique to spell word phonetically, however any misspelling that you can remember will suffice. For example:

“Elite” might just become “Leet” - or - “telephone” could be spelled “telefone”

Homophones
Homophones are words that sound the same, but that are spelled differently. Not only do these make your password harder to guess, but they often can help you remember it, as well. For example:

“Bo Knows Football” could turn into “bownosefootball”

Combining Words/Dates By Alternating Characters
This strategy uses two or more words and dates and alternates them every other character. For example:

“jump & jive” could be “jjuimvpe” - or – “John2004″ would be “J2o0o0n4″

Putting It All Together!

For a real life example of how we can combine several techniques lets do a sample. Recently, I’ve began incorporating my goals into my passwords to help keep me on track. In addition, my wife and I have been planning to move to Australia for over a year now. Let’s start with:

“Australia Is Gonna Be Totally Awesome” and then cut it down to “AustraliaIGBTA”

Next, lets misspell Australia by changing it to “AweStrYaIGBTA”

Finally, let’s hit that with some Leet… “@//3StrYa|G8T@“

Does your head hurt yet?
Remember, you can simplify this process as much as you’d like. Even “@w3StrY@” would be an above average option. Use as many techniques as you can, while still feeling comfortable with the end result.

How Many Password Do You Need?

Obviously, the most optimal method is to have a unique password for each account. This would ensure that if one of your accounts became compromised you would not be at risk for even further damage. You can usually accomplish this by changing just one part of your initial “phrase”, if you utilize that technique.
Everyone’s situation is different, however I would guess that you have at least a couple very important accounts. Chances are your e-mail, financial data, and online banking accounts all contain very sensitive information. At the minimum, these should all have unique passwords. I personally have developed less stringent passwords that I use for several social media websites and other non-sensitive accounts. Once again this comes down to comfort level and risk tolerance.

What are your password bulking tips?

Source: bargaineering.com