RedWine
01-26-2006, 07:34 AM
Coming up with passwords that you can remember but are also safe is no easy task. Try one or all of these different techniques to create a secure but memorable password.
Steps
Develop a Truly Random Password and Use a Mnemonic Device
Use software or, less reliable but usually effective enough, simply jot down letters and numbers as they come to your mind.
Focus on each letter of the password. A way to remember a randomized, assigned difficult password, like "tthertd" can be simple and fun. Think of a sentence where there is one word beginning with each letter of the password, for example, "tthertd" could be "terrible tigers have every right to drive".
Develop an Algorithm
Take the name of the website and then add the last four digits of your home phone number to the end. The password for wikiHow might be "wikihow4588". This is by way of example only because it is too easy for others to figure out but you would add your own personal twist. Maybe you would spell wikihow backwards.
Remove the Vowels
Take a word or phrase and remove the vowels from it (e.g. "eat the cheeseburger becomes "tthchsbrgr").
Use the Keyboard
If your password doesn't use the Q, A, or Z, you can hit the key to the left of your password. Or to the right if you don't use the P, L, or M. 'speedracer' goes to both sides, but 'wikihow' can become 'qujugiq' or 'eolojpe'. Shifting things up a key, choose left or right. 'wikihow' becomes '28i8y92' or '39o9u03'. Shifting up and to the left is slightly more intuitive. Adding the other security measures afterwards is all trivial.
Tips
When coming up with a mnemonic sentence, try and make the sentence funny or relevant to yourself. That way you will remember the sentence so you can remember the password.
The more complex and longer the password, the less likely it is to be cracked but it is often proportionately harder to remember.
Mixing letters and numbers is always safer than just using numbers or just using letters.
You might combine several of these methods and still come up with a truly memorable yet very strong passphrase. You might use a favorite quotation, song lyric, or the advertising slogan you despise most (preferably six words long or more) and create an acronym by using the first letter of each word (Where Would You Like To Go Today = wwyltgt). You can introduce character-word substitutions, like replacing the 'y' (for the word 'you') with a 'u' or 'U', which would give us wwUltgt. Maybe you would substitute some numbers for characters (as in 'leet' = '1337'). Now your passphrase might resemble wwU17g7 or wwU1797. Add standard rules for your personal method such as always capitalizing the first character (or the second, the third, the seventh, whichever tickles you), or inserting an exclamation point after the second character (left out for those sites that do not allow punctuation).
Now, you would have Ww!U17g7 or WwU1797, or some such, as a very secure, yet personally memorable passphrase. Using such a method, "Rock on with your bad self" might be transformed into R0!wy65, r0_wY6$, r0Wy_6$, or any number of others.
If you prefer to have a word that has no symbols or numbers in it, the best thing is for it not to be a word in the dictionary, like 'wazzup'. Also, you can simply substitue letters so it still can sound the same, like this: Crazy = Kraizee. This is not too challenging.
Warnings
Do not use any of the methods listed above. Because they have been listed here, they are now bad methods.
Don't use common words and numbers as your password.
When using numbers only, make sure the sequence is completely random and has no importance. It's best not to use any number that is a matter of record, such as phone, address, and Social Security numbers.
Do not use the same password for several logons, especially if they involve sensitive financial or other personal information.
Do not rely on replacing letters with numbers for security. Password cracking programs break these passwords as easily as the words themselves.
Steps
Develop a Truly Random Password and Use a Mnemonic Device
Use software or, less reliable but usually effective enough, simply jot down letters and numbers as they come to your mind.
Focus on each letter of the password. A way to remember a randomized, assigned difficult password, like "tthertd" can be simple and fun. Think of a sentence where there is one word beginning with each letter of the password, for example, "tthertd" could be "terrible tigers have every right to drive".
Develop an Algorithm
Take the name of the website and then add the last four digits of your home phone number to the end. The password for wikiHow might be "wikihow4588". This is by way of example only because it is too easy for others to figure out but you would add your own personal twist. Maybe you would spell wikihow backwards.
Remove the Vowels
Take a word or phrase and remove the vowels from it (e.g. "eat the cheeseburger becomes "tthchsbrgr").
Use the Keyboard
If your password doesn't use the Q, A, or Z, you can hit the key to the left of your password. Or to the right if you don't use the P, L, or M. 'speedracer' goes to both sides, but 'wikihow' can become 'qujugiq' or 'eolojpe'. Shifting things up a key, choose left or right. 'wikihow' becomes '28i8y92' or '39o9u03'. Shifting up and to the left is slightly more intuitive. Adding the other security measures afterwards is all trivial.
Tips
When coming up with a mnemonic sentence, try and make the sentence funny or relevant to yourself. That way you will remember the sentence so you can remember the password.
The more complex and longer the password, the less likely it is to be cracked but it is often proportionately harder to remember.
Mixing letters and numbers is always safer than just using numbers or just using letters.
You might combine several of these methods and still come up with a truly memorable yet very strong passphrase. You might use a favorite quotation, song lyric, or the advertising slogan you despise most (preferably six words long or more) and create an acronym by using the first letter of each word (Where Would You Like To Go Today = wwyltgt). You can introduce character-word substitutions, like replacing the 'y' (for the word 'you') with a 'u' or 'U', which would give us wwUltgt. Maybe you would substitute some numbers for characters (as in 'leet' = '1337'). Now your passphrase might resemble wwU17g7 or wwU1797. Add standard rules for your personal method such as always capitalizing the first character (or the second, the third, the seventh, whichever tickles you), or inserting an exclamation point after the second character (left out for those sites that do not allow punctuation).
Now, you would have Ww!U17g7 or WwU1797, or some such, as a very secure, yet personally memorable passphrase. Using such a method, "Rock on with your bad self" might be transformed into R0!wy65, r0_wY6$, r0Wy_6$, or any number of others.
If you prefer to have a word that has no symbols or numbers in it, the best thing is for it not to be a word in the dictionary, like 'wazzup'. Also, you can simply substitue letters so it still can sound the same, like this: Crazy = Kraizee. This is not too challenging.
Warnings
Do not use any of the methods listed above. Because they have been listed here, they are now bad methods.
Don't use common words and numbers as your password.
When using numbers only, make sure the sequence is completely random and has no importance. It's best not to use any number that is a matter of record, such as phone, address, and Social Security numbers.
Do not use the same password for several logons, especially if they involve sensitive financial or other personal information.
Do not rely on replacing letters with numbers for security. Password cracking programs break these passwords as easily as the words themselves.