Creating Secure Passwords and Protecting Them

Unsecure passwords open the door to fraud and put you at risk for identity theft. Passwords are supposed to prevent hackers, phishers or other unauthorized users from accessing your personal information. Did you know that the four most common passwords are "God," "love," "sex," and "money?"

Password creation tips:

You can easily create passwords that are easy to remember, while at the same time difficult for unauthorized parties to guess if you:

• Create a password with at least 6-8 characters.
• String several words together (the resulting passwords are also known as "pass phrases")
  Ex.  "I like to play golf on Sundays!"  Password:  "il2pgoS!"
• Shift a word up, down, left or right one row on the keyboard
  Ex.  Take the word "safeguard."  If you use the keys to the right of the keys in safeguard, you get dsgrhistf.
• Bump characters in a word a certain number of letters up or down the alphabet
• Transform a regular word according to a specific method, such as making every other letter a number reflecting its position in the word, don't just tack on a number to a common word (i.e. password1).
  Ex.  "Daffodil" can also be "D1f6o4i12"
• Combine punctuation or numbers with a regular word or capitalize certain letters throughout your password, not just the first letter.
• Create acronyms from words in a song, a poem, or another known sequence of words
  Ex.  "How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways."  Password:  "HdIlt?Lmctw"
• Deliberately misspell a word (but not a common misspelling)
• Don't use your first, middle, or last name--or anyone else's name--within the password.
• DO NOT use other information easily obtained about you. This includes pet names, license plate numbers, telephone numbers, identification numbers, the brand of your automobile, the name of the street you live on, birth date, etc.
• DO NOT use a word contained in English or foreign dictionaries, spelling lists, or other word lists and abbreviations.
• Don't use keyboard sequences, such as qwerty or asdfgh.

You can take steps to protect your password:

• Do not share your password with anyone.
• Memorize your password.  Don't write your password down, leave it on a sticky note that could be found by anyone, or store it in your address book.
• You should not allow Windows or any other software to "remember" your password.
• If you suspect that your password is being used by someone else, change your password immediately and/or contact the Web site, organization or financial institution that hosts the application.
• Change your password frequently, perhaps monthly.