Passwords

Creating a strong password

• Use BOTH upper- and lower-case letters.
• Place numbers and punctuation marks randomly in your password.
• Make your password long and complex, so it is hard to crack. Between 8 to 20 characters long is recommended.
• Use one or more of these special characters: ! @ # $ % * ( ) - + = , < > : : “ ‘
• To help you easily remember your password, consider using a phrase or a song title as a password. For example, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” becomes “Sw0tR8nBO” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit” becomes “sMll10nspT.”
• Make your password easy to type quickly. This will make it harder for someone looking over your shoulder to steal it.

Using your password safely

• Create different passwords for different accounts and applications. That way, if one account is breached, your other accounts won’t be put at risk too.
• Never use your ID number, initials, names and surname as a password for online shopping sitesor free e-mail accounts (Hotmail, Yahoo!, Gmail).
• Change your passwords regularly, about every 90 days (three months). Don’t share your password with anyone else. Once it’s out of your control, so is your security.
• Never enable the “Save Password” option, even if prompted to do so. Pre-saved passwords make it easy for anyone else using your computer to access your accounts.
• Never walk away from a shared computer without logging off. This will ensure no other users can access your accounts.
• Password management software tries to create nearly unhackable passwords, secures them and logins to your accounts automatically using their passwords. LastPass, mSecure, aWallet, Keeper and Password Genie are examples of password management software. Details such as credit card numbers, pin numbers and IMEI numbers can be also saved in such a system.
• Some computer operating systems ‘remember’ passwords. This is convenient but never use this on a shared computer. 

The article was based on the information and updated information from: http://www.utexas.edu/its/secure/articles/keep_safe_with_strong_passwords.php a long time ago and the website no longer exists.