Passwords galore! It seems like I have to select a password for something every single day. With so many options and methods for creating passwords, how do you pick the right one?

Sometimes you can just pick a password that’s easy to remember like your favorite color or type of pizza. These might be OK for low-risk websites but high-risk and more sensitive areas or websites are best secured with a strong password.

A strong password typically includes:

• a random mix of numbers, upper and lowercase letters, and symbols
• at least 12 characters

Avoid:

• usernames
• dictionary words
• familiar names, dates, telephone numbers, and streets
• passwords you’ve used on another high-risk website (if that password is compromised, multiple accounts may be compromised)

Our clients typically require passwords for email accounts, hosting ftp servers, website statistics, ecommerce/shopping cart admins, content management system (CMS) admins, Google AdWords, and more. I recommend strong passwords for all of these sensitive areas such as: 6e9pzP2s84Ts, 3&W9&7B2JV3g, N873#L:88dWw. But don’t use these examples because anyone reading this blog will know them!

With all of these complex, hard-to-remember passwords, there’s a tendency to write them down on a Post-it note and stick it on your computer. That defeats the purpose of having a strong password since a thief can use that same note to access to your sensitive website accounts. A better option is to use a password management application. There are many out there for both Mac and Windows. Personally, I couldn’t live without 1Password, which is made for Macs. I use it to manage countless passwords and it even has a feature that helps you create strong ones. Just keep in mind that a good password manager should encrypt all of your stored passwords.