Creating a password can be hard, especially since it seems you need to come up with one for every website or app you visit. Meanwhile, they each should be unique and memorable enough for you so that they’re never written down. Seems impossible, right? Well, we’ve created a list of Musts and Busts to help you remember how to create the perfect password.
MUST | BUST |
| Your password must have at least 12 characters. | Short passwords are a bust because they are more susceptible to brute force attacks in which hackers try every possible letter and number combination. The less character, the quicker that algorithm can work. |
| Your password must have a combination of lowercase, uppercase characters, and symbols. | Passwords with no character variation or symbols are a bust, because they do not have enough variety. Even if you have 12 characters, if they are not varied with the addition of symbols and uppercase characters, you will not slow down a brute force algorithm. |
| Your password must be complex. | Passwords with easy key paths – such as 12345 – are a bust. |
| Your password must be unique for each account. | Passwords repeated all across the internet are a bust, because if a criminal gains access to one account, suddenly they have access to 20 or 30. |
Bonus Bust: Passwords which are based on your personal information are a bust, because cunning criminals might search out your social media pages in order to gain hints for guessing personal passwords.
Still not convinced about strong passwords? Click here to read more.
