A Guide to Choosing a Good Password

The Heartbleed bug, announced on April 7, 2014, was a wakeup call to the World Wide Web. That which we thought was secure, really wasn’t.

In this guide we’ll help you choose a good password to keep you safe online.

While no one method is 100% secure, a good starting point is having a strong password.

The Length Approach

Make your password hard to crack by making it longer. A longer password keeps your private data safer from prying eyes.

Using text that only you are knowledgeable about creates a stronger password. Text that is commonly known about you, or can be found online easily, makes for a weaker password.

Simply adding some capital letters, numbers, and symbols to a password makes them stronger.

M@Str0ng_Password!

The Seed Approach

Another method for creating a strong password is the Seed approach.

This method recommends you create a different password for each of your sites.

Choose an element that does not change from site to site. This helps you remember longer passwords.

Let’s say, that for each site, you count the number of letters in the URL, and add it (as a word) to the base of your password. E.g. www.walmart.com

Take the previous two tips and then add a mix of capital letters, numbers and symbols.

Green_Thirteen13!

In Short

• A longer password is stronger
• Use words only you know
• Use a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols
• Pick a different password for each site
• No one method is 100% safe

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References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbleed
• http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartbleed-bug-websites-affected/