Need a safe password? Take a number
No one wants to fall victim to identity theft, and no one wants to live a life constrained by passwords.
An easily remembered password is often easy to guess, and a so-called “good” password, packed with letters, numbers and symbols, can be impossible to memorize.
The eternal dilemma for computer users is to exist in that area between security and convenience.
“The thing about passwords is, they should be difficult to crack; the hard part is to remember them all,” said Paul Smith, a network engineer at Willis Information Technologies.
Security experts and software producers have devised a handful of methods to create passwords that are difficult to guess and relatively easy to internalize.
One popular trick is to create a mnemonic device to trigger a complex password.
Start with a memorable phrase made up of several words, for example, “What you see is what you get,” which can become “WYSIWYG.” Easy to remember, tough to guess. Science fans might prefer the sequence of the planets “MVEMJSUNP,” while a Christian might use the first eight books of the Bible: “GELNDJJR.”
“I suggest for my clients a two- or three-word phrase and to put characters between the words,” Smith said.
“For a long time, I was coming up with Motown songs with a number or character. Like ‘My Girl’ with a pound sign in the middle (My#Girl).”
The seemingly random addition of numbers or symbols make a password even more secure.
Take Smith’s idea of Motown songs for example. The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” could become “ATPTB.” Take this idea a step further by adding numbers and lowercase letters to make it “A2P2Beg,” and you have a seven-character password that’s easy to remember but almost impenetrable.
Try substituting numbers and other characters for letters, based on formal similarities. Replace the “s” in a standard word or phrase with a “5” or a “$,” and use a “9” for “g.”
Another technique that has become popular among online services is a clue. For example, a Web site will prompt a new user to create a user name, password and a clue to help remember that password. Should the user forget, the service sends an e-mail containing the clue.
A fictional Mr. Jones might link the clue “nuptials” to the password “Don+Sue75,” and the clue “kids” to “MJ83KJ88.” That is, his name is Donald, he married Susan in 1975 and his children Michael and Kelly were born in 1983 and 1988.
Clues, unlike passwords, can be written down.
For those who simply cannot resist the urge to make a written record of their passwords, common sense is the key. Don’t write your password on a sticky note and post it on your monitor or inside a drawer. Instead, keep a password log in a locked filing cabinet or a secure spot at home.
Technology has even come to its own rescue through personal organizers, which are often protected by their own password.
“If you’re a savvy computer user and you have a PDA or other handheld device, you can download applications to manage passwords,” said Craig Burnette, director of information technology for Michigan’s Jackson County.