It’s essential to follow a few password tips to protect your personal information. In a world where computer security is compromised with increasing frequency, failure to choose good passwords can result in others accessing your password-protected accounts, as well as identity theft.

Choosing a Crackproof Password
The best passwords are combinations of upper-and-lower case letters and numbers. Some Web sites require passwords of nine characters or more, so it’s good to get into the habit of using passwords with at least 10 characters. For maximum security, use a password with letters and numbers interspersed throughout the password. The ideal combination of letters and numbers would be something like 6 letters, 4 numbers, with the numbers mixed throughout the password. If that’s too difficult to remember, try using passwords with numbers at the beginning or end of the word, but be sure the word isn’t obvious.

Don’t Repeat Your Passwords
For good security, it’s absolutely essential not to repeat your passwords. If you end up with a malicious keylogger on your computer, which tracks your keystrokes and sends them back to a third party, a hacker can look up your usernames and passwords for practically any Web site, including online banking, credit cards and other important financial information. If you use the same password for all of your accounts, and a hacker gets one of your passwords, they then have access to every one of your accounts. Using the same password gives hackers the option to steal your identity completely in an extremely short period of time; a talented hacker could change all your passwords and take over your accounts in less than five minutes.

Avoid Obvious Passwords
Never use your name, your spouse’s name or your children’s names as passwords. If someone who knows anything about your family attempts to crack your passwords, those are the first things they’ll try. Also avoid using birthdates, your Social Security number or account numbers for your checking or savings account. The disadvantage of these numbers is twofold: they’re easier to figure out, if the hacker has access to your personal data, and they give the hacker additional personal information.

Tips for Generating the Best Passwords
The best passwords are seemingly random collections of letters and numbers, but they’re difficult to remember. You defeat the purpose of using good passwords if you have to write them down to keep them handy, so it’s important to use passwords that you can remember. Try to pick a phrase that’s easy to remember and use the first letter from each word. This will give you a seemingly random combination of letters that you can remember easily. Combine that with a number or two, and you’ve got a good password.