BULLET PROOF PASSWORDS FOR THE NON-GEEK

Are you a one of those who experience guilt pangs every time you log onto the internet and remember that your passwords aren't that good?

In spite of constant warnings about the dangers of using easy to-guess passwords, many people are still endangering their personal information with such transparent ones as password, open, open up.' and 'let me in. The reason is simple. Recommenced passwords, such as xZBq79nZRK264lsGM, are impossible to remember. Consequentially, most people simply fall back into the easy habit of using birthdays and family members' names things that are all too easily guessed. Is there a way to create passwords that will both defeat hackers and be easy to remember and use? There is.

First, you need to realize that not every site that requires a password is of the same importance. For example, many people read several national newspapers and magazines on-line. News sources and other sites that you usually treat as read only, offer little danger to your personal information. If you choose to participate in their blogs or readers' forums, they will require a user name and a password.

If you are not making purchases and entering personal information, there is no problem. Simply use your real name or an alias/ screen name, and use the name of your favorite book, actor, or flavor of ice cream as a password for all such sites. Removing the burden of so many different things to remember, will make it all the easier to create the passwords that will protect your truly valuable information.

To create great passwords you will need one tool a moderately good calculator. Something that you might find for a dollar is not a good choice. Find a major brand that will do powers, square roots, and has a key for Phi (3.14159~). Almost any office supply store, drugstore or supermarket will have one for $10-15. Buy it, become acquainted with it, and keep it with your computer. You may, in fact, already have one in your brief / computer case. Great.

THREE EASY STEPS

Let's say you work on cars or just love cars. You now have the key to creating a great password.

1. Take a common item like fuel pump or brake pedal and add your birthday, March 16, l974 (3/16/74).

2. Enter your birthday in the calculator and square it: 31674^2 =1003242276. Ignore any decimal points and don't use all the digits in case you loose that calculator.

3. Reducing the ten digits to eight and using your key word

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