Ever forgotten your password? I’m sure you have; I used to be guilty of it too. In today’s world you probably have at least 5-6 places that require you log on with a username and password.

Often times people do not realize how much flexibility they have in creating a password. Most people usually stick to dictionary words or names. This practice is very insecure. There are several programs out there that can crack these within seconds.

The first step in creating and remembering a password is to create a strong password. The most secure passwords are between 8 and 14 characters. These passwords should contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numerals, and even symbols. An example of a secure password is: J5!if#8D. Now I know that this looks impossible to remember, and actually it is. There are two tricks you can use to create a password like this and actually remember it.

1. Make you password have a certain cadence. Do you remember how we all learned to spell “Mississippi” in school. We remmeber it because the letters flow to a rythm. “Mi-ssi-ssi-ppi”. You can create a password using this principle. Ex: ttpTTP123. Now say this in your head “ttp-TTP-123″. Or try this: xpKT134me “xp-KT-13-4me” These are much easier to remember beacause of thier cadence.

2. If you are still having trouble with you can use a phrase instead of just one word. If you are using Windows XP your password can be up to 127 characters long. Obviously you dont want a password this long but it allows you to crete a phrase: “2eggs+2bacon=1breakfast”. To us this looks like a silly saying, but it is actaully a very secure password.

Do yourself a favor and take responsibility with your passwords. Espcially those that float around on the Internet. You will thank yourself later.