Web View: Password Protection

We’re constantly being told to make sure passwords are strong enough. But the word is out. We’re lazy. And being lazy, we choose the easiest way out of picking a different password for each site we sign up for. The most common passwords are variations of:

• Your first name/spouses name/children/parents names


• 123456


• QWERTY


• ABC123


• Movies/singers/TV shows

So listen up, people. It’s time to learn. To keep your personal information secure, change your methods. Instead of a password, use a pass-phrase. For example, pick your favourite movie. Let’s imagine it’s Ghostbusters. What’s the catchphrase? Who you gonna call? Et voila! A new passphrase. It’s longer than normal, automatically making it harder to guess. It’s not directly related to you (unless you quote that phrase all the time, in which case choose another phrase). Mix some numbers into it to make it harder to guess e.g. Wh0y0ug0nnacall?

Do NOT write it on your computer. Or near your computer. You must remember this in your head! It sounds silly, but we just had a customer hand in his laptop this week with the password written on the outside lid of his laptop, in permanent marker. Get in the habit of changing your password every few months. And consider why you implemented the password in the first place. So often, I hear parents talk of setting up a password to keep their kids off the computer, only to give the kids the password the next day.