How to create a strong password that is easy to remember.In this information age, we need to create passwords on many online sites. A weak password is a potential threat to our privacy, financial security, or other aspects of our life.
Therefore, it is important to create a strong password . However, strong passwords often mean long, complicated, and difficult to remember. If we only trust our brain, it is difficult to keep a strong and complex password in long-term memory, even if you have a good memory. So how can you make a password not only secure but also easy to remember ? Here are two essential ways on how to create a strong password .
Table of Contents
Method 1: Create traditional passwords
We both know that the traditional way to create a password is to make use of any combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. According to the 20 most common passwords from various studies, those passwords composed of simple repetitions, simple sequences and common words are popular, such as 123456, 123123, password, 555555… They are all really easy to remember. But, for the sake of personal information security, you’d better discard them. Because they greatly reduce the difficulty of breaking the password cracking tool.
A traditional password will be relatively strong when it is long and irregular. Therefore, when trying to create a strong yet easy-to-remember password, you need to balance its length and complexity. Here are the dos and don’ts .
- Use at least 8-10 characters, but it is best to lengthen the password as the system allows.
- Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
- Use a password for each account independently.
- Don’t use a common word in the dictionary, like password, administrator, lovely, etc.
- Do not use repetitive or sequential characters, for example, 111111, abc123, 1q2w3e4r, etc.
- Do not use the personal data that can be easily collected, their date of birth, real name, pet’s name, phone number, identification number, car license number, address, to name just a few.
- Don’t use context-specific information such as username, website name, brand, etc.
It is suggested that you transform a special phrase or more into a strong password. Because people are usually good at keeping phrases with certain meanings in mind rather than random combinations that are hard to imagine. What’s more, when you use special phrases to create a password, it may be easy for you to remember it, but difficult for others to guess.
In addition, the inspiration can be related to your life experiences. For example, if it’s an upcoming plan, “This year, I’m getting married to my boyfriend on December 1 in Los Angeles!” You can take the initials of each word to form and the number to form a password.
Way 2: Create Unique Passphrases
According to the Digital Identity Guidelines, a passphrase can be secure and easier to remember than a traditional password. Compared to a traditional password, a passphrase is combined with multiple and random common words, divided by spaces or not.
We can remember the passphrase by viewing the common words as an image. Furthermore, a passphrase satisfies the demand for security. For example, a computer could crack the password Tr0ub4dor & 3 in 3 days.
From a practice perspective, a passphrase is easy to remember, but difficult to guess. Tips to remember when using a passphrase:
- Select at least four words. It is recommended to use more words if the system supports it.
- Add capital letters and symbols to the passphrase.
- Use the unusual acronym or abbreviation that you can remember.
- Don’t select a famous saying or slogan as your passphrase, or the most common words.
- A strong passphrase is made up of random words, it does not have to be grammatically correct.
- Create unique passphrases for different accounts, helping to protect against the domino effect across all of your accounts if a passphrase is leaked.
conclusion
The way to remember a password varies from person to person, it is recommended to select a method that helps improve your long-term memory to remember the password . Whether it is a traditional password or a passphrase, only if you make sure of the complexity and length, it will be a strong password. Finally, do not forget to activate two-factor authentication for greater security of your accounts.
