Experts these days say the key to a safe password is to have the longest password possible. But many sites or accounts aren’t set up for that. So what’s the best way to create safer, shorter passwords using shorter alpha-numeric combinations?
Before we start, I’d like you to try and memorize the password below.
Password- ctfoebtmhtstgsomnccfsolp: -(1984
Seems impossible? Well, it isn’t. All you have to do is follow a few simple steps to create a password that is easy to remember yet hard to crack.
Step 1- Find the lyrics of a song you really like and pick a stanza/verse from the song. Then simply choose the first letter from every word in the verse to create the first half of the password.
I’m a music lover and I particularly like old hymns. One of my favourite hymns is “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” so I chose the first verse of the song (actually half of the first verse) and used the first letter of every word as a character for my password.
“Come, thou fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.”
Password: ctfoebtmhtstgsomnccfsolp
Step 2- Decide if the song is projecting a happy or sad emotion.
I decided that the hymn did not have a happy tune to it and so gave it sad smiley (emoticon) – :- (
Password: ctfoebtmhtstgsomnccfsolp:- (
Step 3- Add your birth year or any number you want at the end of the password.
Password: ctfoebtmhtstgsomnccfsolp:- (1984
That’s it. You now have a strong, easy to remember [yes, hard to crack ] password.
No Password Is Completely Safe
No password is completely immune from attackers. The most secure passwords are usually more than 10 characters long and use alpha numeric combinations with punctuations to confuse hackers.
To increase the complexity of your password you can capitalize the first and last letter of your password, this will increase the time hackers take to crack it.
In addition to testing the strength of your password you can check if your accounts have been compromised in the latest cyber-attacks against Yahoo, Adobe, etc. by visiting haveibeenpwned.com
Also, it’s very important that you enable two-factor authentication if it’s offered for any account.