Prevent ID Theft: Use Stronger Passwords

As cyber crimes evolve, the need for sturdy passwords has become a necessity. If you are a regular broadband user and half of your life revolves around the internet from e-mailing, to banking, to shopping and more, it would be very foolish of you not to have a strong password. You must remember that your password is the access key to your private information. Personal information in the wrong hands can be used to turn your world upside down if it is used for Identity theft!

The age of using the same password for different websites has come to an end. Using the same password for different websites is like handing your identity over to a hacker on a silver plate, basically giving him/her access to all your online accounts from Facebook to Citibank. Sophos senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley reported that the use of alternative log-in details for different websites can greatly reduce the risk online identity theft and fraud. He added that by doing this it will limit the amount of information a fraudster obtains should he/she crack the password of one of your accounts.

When it comes to passwords for internet forums, you can relax a little as the personal information put on such sites is not really that sensitive. Nonetheless, Cluley still advises that whatever password you do use for internet forums, just make sure its not a word in the dictionary. Here are a few more tips to ensure you have a killer password:

1. The Longer the Better: Your password should be no less that eight characters.
2. Use Variety: Using a variety of characters in your password makes it difficult to guess, use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols e.g. 'p@s5w0rd'
3. Use Both Cases: Use both uppercase and lowercase letters in your password e.g. 'PasSwORd'
4. Use a Pass Phrase: The use of an easy to remember but difficult to guess pass phrase or sentence strengthens your security.
5. Convert the Phrase: Convert the phrase to a word if your system doesn't support phrases by taking the first letter of each word in the phrase to make one word.
6. Use Incorrect Spelling: Incorrectly spelt words are difficult to guess. The substitution of characters with letter or symbols is also very effective e.g. use the number "3", instead of the letter "E".

Now that you know what to do when making a password, you should also know what to avoid. As was mentioned before avoid the use of the same password for different sites and don't use words in the dictionary, here are a few more 'don'ts' that you can add on to your list:

• Don't use any sequences in your password. Similarly do not use repeated characters or numbers e.g. '123456' or 'dddddd'.
• Don't use your personal details or the details of loved ones as a password - this includes names, birth dates and addresses.
• Don't store your passwords on your computer or any online storage space as hackers can easily find them and access your accounts.

Once you've created your killer passwords make sure that you keep them a secret, trust no one. Lastly check how strong your password really is by using Microsoft's Password Checker.