Never Use Pathetic Passwords, Make Them Strong

A password is a string of characters used to verify the identity of a user during the authentication process. A password is said to be pathetic if it does not satisfy complexity requirements.  Such passwords could be easily guessed or cracked by hackers.

More often that not, people complain about their Social Media Accounts been hacked. This could somewhat be as result of the use of pathetic passwords.

In today’s world, almost everything requires a password; from doors to refrigerators, to PDAs, Mobile Devices, Computers, etc. Therefore there’s the need to set strong passwords.

The image shows an infographic made by Statistica on some Pathetic Passwords used on Social Media, as at June 2016.

Avoid These When Creating a Password;

> Don’t use personal information such as your name, name of a family member, name of your pet, phone numbers, addresses, birthdays, etc.

> Don’t use dictionary or solitary words in a language. Hackers have dictionary-based systems which can crack these types of passwords easily. You can however choose to misspell words as much as possible, or insert numbers for letters. For example, if you want to use the phrase “I love Mangoes“, you can change it to 1L0v3M@ng0e$.

> Don’t use commonly used passwords such as 123456, the words “password“, “qwerty“, “monkey“, “iloveyou“,etc.

> Don’t use the same password across multiple websites. If remembering multiple passwords is an issue, you can use a Password Manager to securely store your passwords.

> Don’t write your passwords down, share them with anyone or let anyone see you log into devices or websites.

Best Practices;

> Your passwords should be at least eight characters long. However, the more characters and symbols they contain, the more difficult they are to guess.

> Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, symbols and numbers.

> Change your passwords regularly.

> Use substitutions like the number zero for the letter ‘O’ and ‘$’ for the letter ‘S’.

> Make an acronym from a phrase. For example, “Every Ghanaian Knows About A Language Called Twi” (EGKAALCT). You can derive the password Egk@4Lct! from this acronym.

> Use a passphrase instead of a password. A passphrase is similar to a password, except that it’s based on a random collection of words, rather than just one. For example, Make copy light Trust . Don’t place the words in a predictable pattern or form a proper sentence. It would be easy to guess.

> Logout of websites and devices when you have finished using them.