SOLVED: The 10 Best Ways to Make a Secure Password

Today there is news that Microsoft will flat out block the use any of the most common passwords (like 123456, password and baseball).  So how can you create a password that does not drive you nuts.  When it comes to digital security but clearly a password must be complex enough that it does not lend itself to brute force or dictionary attacks, but is easy enough for you to remember WITHOUT writing it down.  Below are the techniques you can use to develop your own 10 best passwords of 2016:

1. Phone numbers with slight modifications that are NOT common, like 4zero35551212
2. Date of the last time you changed your password like Jan152016
3. Proper names with slight modifications that are NOT common like Watzon or Lylie
4. Phase phrases like I like Cheese or Passwords annoy me
5. Favorite city with slight modifications that a NOT common, like Banfff or Cal6ary
6. Favorite time of day like fivepm
7. Your weight with slight modifications that are NOT common twooh8 or one93
8. Keyboard patterns with slight modifications, like 123765 or 741159 (see the pattern on your number pad)
9. Incomplete parts of your name with a number in the middle that you can change as your password expires like Watso1John ( for John Watson) or Larr1Walte (Larry Walters)
10. Reset passwords – this one is very interesting and a friend of mine uses it for services he uses less than once per week he intentionally has the password reset and sent to him every single time he uses the sites.  He makes no attempt at all to record or recall the passwords but instead relies completely on the password reset process

A good password has the following characteristics:

1. passwords should not be common – do not use your child’s name, or 123456 or baseball
2. if you are going to modify a common word do NOT use common substitutes like ‘0’ for ‘o’ or ‘1’ for ‘i’
3. it has upper case, lower case and a number or special character (like a $ or %)
4. passwords should be easy enough for you to remember without you writing them down

Remember that no password will keep you completely safe but it is easy to create a password that is easy to remember but hard to guess, so you should use a good password.