by DiTesco

Created on: February 27, 2009

Making a good online password is today one of the most important aspects that we need to be aware of, specially if we have a strong presence on the Internet, or online if you prefer. Like anyone using the online world today, we have most likely a lot of accounts that need passwords. Bank accounts, social networks, new startups we might consider checking out, email accounts, blogs, forums, access to our company's server, you name it.

Though we should maintain unique passwords for important services (like company servers, bank accounts and some important email accounts), it still is a pain to determine what password we should create and worst of all, having to remember passwords for every service we are using online. In most cases, it is possible that you find yourself reusing the same passwords, over and over again. Needless to say that, such practice is obviously not recommended. Regardless of how strong your password can be, once it is compromised, it is one big invitation for a hacker to gain access on other services you use.

How are passwords created?
Basically there are two ways that passwords are generated. You either create it yourself (e.g. signing up for a Google Account), and the other computer generated (normally temporary passwords). One other important aspect is that in almost all cases, a username is also required to log in a specific service. Such usernames are created just the same way as passwords are. As a side note, don't forget to immediately change any computer generated password you have obtained.

What is a strong password?
A password is considered to be strong when it is very complicated (even for automated calculations) to discover. A set of random characters, that are between 8 - 10 characters long will be a good start. The longer the better. If you can add in some symbols, like @?&%, even better. Last, but not least, strong passwords are those that are stored in our head. We do not have them written down anywhere at all. No PDA, no protected excel sheet, no piece of paper, mobile phone, nowhere.

What is a weak password?
Your own name, a member of a family's name, your pet, birthday, favorite color, your car's brand, your license plate, your telephone number, your social security number, etc. are normally considered to be poor choices when creating your password. You may even combine all this and make it more difficult for a hacker, like writing them backwards, etc., and still be considered weak. These are still options to consider, but

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