Passwords

Anyone with any connection to the Internet has to deal with passwords, and the passwords can be a nuisance, especially for sites you do not use daily.

(Same with PIN numbers.)

Do not use the most common passwords which are usually
1234
12345
11111
password.

Yes, people commonly use “password” as a password.

A good password has at least eight (8) digits including both letter and numbers.

A good password is difficult to guess. Your house number and street name are not difficult to guess.

A good password is a word and number combination that is easy for you to remember but would not be easy for anyone else. Some event from your past perhaps (not your wedding anniversary, too easy) you can easily remember.

Some passwords should be longer, our banking password has more than 25 digits, but is a combination of words and numbers we can easily remember. Maybe that is a little extreme.

For sites you rarely access, but are important, keep a written list of password locked up somewhere in your house. Use the same email when you set up passwords, so if you need to make a change you know which email will get the password change link.

Passwords on critical sites should be changed every six months. If you have any hacking trouble change critical passwords immediately.