Tips for Strong Passwords

Here are some helpful tips for inventing safe passwords:

• A password should consist of at least 8-10 characters. Each additional digit increases safety, so the more characters, the better! If allowed by the target system, you should use at least a 14-digit word, otherwise use the maximum number of characters allowed for your password.

• A safe password consists of numbers, punctuation marks and special characters. Also, you should mix uppercase and lowercase letters. The smaller the variance in character types, the longer your password will have to be.

• If a password can be looked up in a dictionary, it is not safe - regardless of its length. Programs for cracking passwords use dictionaries and systematically try out all entries.  

• You should not employ names of your family members or your pet. Neither should you use phone numbers, car registration numbers, or other information which can easily be found out about you.

• Never you simple keyboard patterns such as asdf or jkl;.

• Avoid passwords merely consisting of repeated characters, such a "aaaaa".

For maximum safety, use the password generator and the maximum number of characters as well as the entire range of character types allowed whenever possible.

Change your passwords regularly and remember: The more sensitive your information is, the more often the password needs to be changed. Passwords consisting of less than 8 characters should be changed every week. Passwords with up to 10 characters should be changed every month, and passwords consisting of more than 12 characters may be kept for 6 months. You should therefore use the "Expiry date" field to have Password Depot automatically remind you to renew passwords.

The following applies to your master password:

• Create a safe master password by using the initial letters of a phrase you can easily remember: "I use safe keywords in Password Depot" is reduced to IuskiPD. In order to make this password even safer, you simply replace the number "5" for the letter "s". Your password then reads: Iu5kiPD.

• Another method is mixing numbers with words. P1a0s2s9w2o0r0d1 is made from "password" and 10/29/2001. The date should not be a known birthday.

• Avoid using only look-alike substitutions with numbers or symbols. Hacker who know enough to try and crack your password will not be fooled by common look-alike replacements, such as to replace an 'o' with a '0' or an 'a' with '@' as in "M1cr0$0ft" or "P@ssw0rd".

Warning: Never use the same password for all purposes.