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Most people take their password way too lightly. This is the one thing standing between a very experienced hacker and your private files, financial records, personal history and activities. I’ve done a bit of research on this, and I would like to shake you up a bit with the facts I’ve learned. I know I’ll be doing things differently from now on!

If your like most people, you use the same password for most everything. Even though you’ve probably heard it’s not a good idea, you figure it’s not that big of a deal because nobody would ever be able to guess your password. Right? Think about it, if you’re using the same one for most all your passworded accounts, once the hacker has gotten it, he or she has access to all your accounts!

Believe it or not, the most commonly used password is “password”. Wow, you must think you’re really being too clever for the bad guys. If this is you, change it NOW!

The top 10 reported “most commonly used passwords” are:

• password
• 123456
• the last 4 digits of your SS#
• qwerty (look at your keyboard and you’ll see it)
• abc123
• letmein
• password1
• (your name)
• monkey
• love

There are a number of methods hackers use to get your password. One way is termed Brute Force Attack. This is when a hacker uses a piece of software written to log into a site using your credentials. Now, you’re wondering how they can get your credentials. Basically, any forums, shopping sites, or any other sites that you frequent that require passwords are targeted by running some of these software tools such as , THC Hydra, Brutus, Cain and Abel, on their server and retrieving a number of login and password combinations. (Read more on these tools at Insecure.org) They can then run these possibilities on some sites you frequent until they crack your account. Not to mention they can also do a background check to get all that personal info on you. There’s even a free site that will give up just about any information for no cost at all called ZabaSearch

Now, let’s get to the facts of what makes a strong password.

• a password should be at least 8 characters. 14 characters is ideal
• combine letters, numbers, and symbols
• add a combination of upper and lowercase letters
• use different passwords for different accounts.
• also add some keyboard symbols in

How about a list of things to avoid.

• don’t use your first, middle, last name, or anyone elses
• don’t use your birthday or your loved ones birthday
• don’t use initials or nicknames
• don’t use words used in English or Foreign dictionaries (easily hacked by theses tools mentioned earlier)
• don’t use words spelled backwards or misspellings (also easily hacked)

Get creative. Try using the first letter of a line in a song or a book to make a password. Anything that can make it easy to create a strong combination, but easy for you to remember. Don’t write them down somewhere. You’re just asking for trouble. I would suggest using Roboform. It will store all of your passwords in an encrypted format and allow you to use just one master password to access all of them.

Try this Password Strength Checking Tool to get an idea of how strong your current password or a prospective password is located at Microsoft.com.

Related posts:

1. Don’t Get Hacked! Make Your Sensitive Files Invisible!