The Do's And Don'ts Of Password Creation

Password creation is a huge deal, and believe it or not, most people are doing it in all of the wrong ways.  In most cases, passwords are similar to house keys.  Once your key is in the hands of someone you don't know or trust, who knows what valuables they could run off with.  So, in light of data security, I compiled a list of the Do’s and Don’ts of password creation:

Don’ts

1. Don’t choose something obvious (kids’ names, pet name, etc).
2. Don’t use the same password for everything.
3. Don’t share your password over email or IM.     
4. Don’t use “password” as your password.
5. Don’t use your username as your password. 
6. Don’t use your social security, or any part of it, as your password. 
7. Don’t use any word in the dictionary as your password. 
8. Don’t use all letters or all numbers in your password. 
9. Don’t use a word spelled backwards as your password.
10. Don’t use sample passwords given on websites.
11. Don’t share your password with anyone.
12. Don’t use a password less than six characters.
13. Don’t use anything that your friends could guess as your password.
14. Do not use sequences or repeated characters (abcdef, 222222).
15. Do not use numbers in place of letters (Pa55w0rd).
16. Do not write down your passwords and keep them next to your computer.  

Do’s

1. Do change your password regularly (every 6 months). 
2. Do use a mixture of upper and lower case characters.
3. Do use a mixture of letters and numbers.
4. Do use special characters (%, $, #, etc).
5. Do use a password with 8 or more characters.
6. Do use different passwords for different accounts.
7. Do use a password that you can type quickly without having to look at the keyboard.
8. Do keep your passwords to yourself. 
9. Do make sure your password is memorable to YOU. 

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