I ran across a graphic from Zone Alarm, called Securing Yourself From a World of Hackers. At the top, it lists the top 20 passwords of all time. Here is that section of the graphic.
Do you think that hackers routinely try these passwords, and more, to get into websites? I bet that they try admin as the user id too!
One of the most important items to get right in order to have online security is your password. It must be a strong password.
Here are some tips to make your password strong:
- Use 14 characters or more.
- Use a variety of different characters.
- Use the entire keyboard. not just letters.
- Use both upper and lower case.
If you have trouble remembering your password, try turning a sentence into a password.
“I used to shop at Wal-Mart.” becomes “1uSd2s40P@W-m!”
Another way to ensure strong passwords is to use a password generator. I use KeePass. It is much more than a password generator, it also stores your user ids and passwords for you. Best of all, it’s free!
Change your passwords today, if they aren’t strong. You’ll be happy you did.
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Scary that people don’t seem to take password security very seriously. Here is a site dedicated to the topic of safe password management. They have a free online password generation tool (actually a couple) that allows you to create very long, very complex but memorable passwords. Try it out when you get a chance. Thank you. http://safepasswordmanagement.com/online-password-generator/